Sailors’ upset bid falls apart in sixth

Steve Virgen

Through the first five innings, the softball matchup between scrappy

Newport Harbor High and highly regarded Woodbridge had the makings of

an upset Thursday at the Sailors’ field.

Newport Harbor, fifth in the six-team Sea View League, held

first-place Woodbridge scoreless through five innings. However, the

Warriors remained undefeated in league play on the strength of a

seven-run sixth when the Sailors committed all three of their errors.

The Warriors (18-8, 6-0 in league) seemingly took a sigh of relief

after their 9-1 victory over the Sailors (7-11, 1-5). Newport junior

pitcher Ashley Gleason had a no-hitter through five innings. In

addition the Sailors outhit the Warriors, 4-0, before Woodbridge came

to life in the sixth inning.

“We had them on the ropes,” Newport Harbor Coach Mike Davis said.

“We had them right where we wanted them. We just had to finish that

sixth inning.”

In the bottom of the third with two outs, Newport freshman center

fielder Clea O’Kieffe collected the game’s first hit. Her single to

left resulted in loud cheers from the Newport fans.

Then sophomore Sasha Grumman, the Sailors shortstop and leadoff

hitter, nearly brought in O’Kieffe with a hit down the left-field

line. Grumman sent an 0-1 pitch toward the left-field corner. The

ball landed just fair, rolled into foul territory and went past the

fence for a ground-rule double.

But Woodbridge pitcher Kelly Cabana, a junior who improved to

11-2, ended the inning with a strikeout. Cabana finished with seven

strikeouts and one walk.

Gleason recorded eight strikeouts, including six through the first

five innings. Woodbridge Coach Alan Dugard said the Warriors were

chasing after Gleason’s rise ball, but he told them to be patient.

Gleason faced just two over the minimum before Woodbridge broke out

with its seven-run sixth.

“She’s a great pitcher,” said Davis, the Tars’ first-year coach.

“She has good movement on the ball.”

At the plate, Gleason had one of the Sailors’ six hits and scored

Newport’s run in the sixth. Senior Jennifer Gummerman, junior

Julianne Bass and freshman Jessica Knight also contributed one hit

each.

“We were very concerned about Newport,” Dugard said. “They were

playing a very good game. We just weren’t playing a good game. I told

the girls, ‘It’s time to wake up and make it happen.’ ”

Dugard also said the Warriors were able to get on track with their

first hit of the game, which came courtesy of sophomore Krista

Seeman, who produced a triple that brought in sophomore Kaitlin

Merkt. Merkt reached on an error, advanced to second on another error

and went to third on a passed ball before Seeman’s big hit.

“What opened the barn door for us was the error to get us on

base,” Dugard said. “Then Krista’s triple just broke it up. Once that

happened, we started to relax.”

Following Seeman’s triple, Woodbridge drew two walks to load the

bases. Junior Lauren Peterson then cleared them with a double on a

1-2 count.

The Sailors tried to mount a comeback, scoring one run in the

sixth. With one out, Gleason smacked the ball to left field, where a

fielding error resulted, giving two extra bases to Gleason. Gummerman

followed with an RBI groundout.

Newport Harbor also came close to scoring in the fourth, when

Gummerman singled to right with one out. Knight also had a base hit

in the inning, a two-out single. Her hard ground ball went past the

pitcher and rolled to center field. But, again, Cabana ended the

inning with a strikeout.

“I thought we could have won,” Davis said. “We just had to finish

the job.”

Peterson, the Woodbridge catcher, led the Warriors with a 2-for-4

performance that came with three RBIs, two runs and a stolen base.

The Sailors return to Sea View League action Tuesday when they

face Foothill. Newport Harbor will meet Woodbridge again May 13 when

the Warriors host the matchup.

*--*

Sea View League

Woodbridge 9, Newport Harbor 1

Score by Innings

W’bridge 000 007 2 -- 9 7 1

Newport 000 001 0 -- 1 6 3

Cabana and Peterson; Gleason and Bass. W --

Cabana, 11-2. L -- Gleason, 5-9. 2B --

Peterson (W), Grumman (NH). 3B -- Seeman

(W).

*--*