Mesa dropped, but content with season

COSTA MESA — The season was over, but Costa Mesa High seniors Brieanna Ramirez, Emily Pulaski, Lizzie Milne and Karla Lopez lined up along the third-base line Wednesday at Costa Mesa High.

The four Mustangs softball seniors sprinted down the line one by one, before diving head-first into home plate. They were then squirted with champagne by their teammates, like a team that’s just won a major sporting event.

OK, it wasn’t champagne, it was actually sparkling apple cider, and the result of Wednesday’s game wasn’t even in Mesa’s favor. Calvary Chapel won the Orange Coast League finale, 6-0, to clinch the second of the league’s two CIF playoff spots.

That didn’t matter to the Mustangs. They have still not made the playoffs since 2003, but the players celebrated what, by all accounts, they considered a successful season.

“It was an amazing season,” said Lopez, who had Mesa’s only two hits — including a double — against Calvary sophomore pitcher Amanda Gonzales. “Amazing, amazing, amazing. It was a great experience my senior year, great people and great ladies, too. We played our best. Win or not, we’re still happy and friends and cheering each other on, trying to pick each other up. Not trying, we did pick each other up. It was just a great experience. This last year was the best year I’ve ever played.”

The season ended with Ramirez and Milne as a battery for Mesa (11-11, 5-4 in league). Neither player was playing the position at which she had started the season, and the game was actually the first time Milne had started at catcher this year.

Franco said Pulaski, the Mustangs’ leading hitter who has pitched and caught this season, was ruled academically ineligible Monday for the final game. She still sat in the dugout, keeping the score book and encouraging her teammates. It was a tough way to end a sparkling four-year career, but Pulaski still smiled with her teammates after the game.

“That’s tough,” Franco said. “She’s done so much for this program, so much for the freshmen. The overall big picture is wonderful things ... These girls have never seen the playoffs in their four years of being here, and they were so close.”

He could say the same positives about the rest of the seniors. Ramirez, who has been asked to pitch at times this season, stepped in and shut out the Eagles (13-9, 6-3) for two innings, but the Calvary bats started getting hot.

“People have to step up and do things,” Ramirez said. “I was a third baseman and I had to pitch, and you just have to do those things when you don’t have players who can play those positions. It’s not only senior leadership, it’s dedication to the game. You’re doing it for the team. Everything you do is for the team, so you can win and have a great time.”

Already down, 4-0, the Mustangs had their best scoring chance in the fifth inning. Lopez singled, freshman Tamy Cerrato walked and junior Vanessa Castro reached on an error. But, with two outs and the bases loaded, Gonzales got one of her nine strikeouts to end the threat.

Calvary Chapel Coach Mark Wilbur said Gonzales had her change-up working throughout the game.

“I was very comfortable,” Gonzales said. “I was just ready to come out and play, I guess.”

Sophomore shortstop Stephanie Coyne was three for five with two runs scored to lead the Eagles.

For Costa Mesa, which typically started four freshmen, the future still appears bright. Even the seniors were impressed by the play of the underclassmen. On Wednesday, it was freshman third baseman Deanna Byers who made a highlight-worthy play in the seventh, catching a hard-hit line drive then doubling an Eagles runner off the third base.

“I think we became good mentors to them,” Lopez said. “They did learn a lot and they worked their little ‘tooshes’ off. They were amazing. They played hard every single time.”

Franco, too, saw the positives, even after his team went 0-3 against Calvary Chapel in league.

“We were asking girls to do things they weren’t expecting to do, and they did it gracefully, they did it with a positive attitude,” he said. “The bottom line is that Calvary Chapel is just a better softball team than us right now. At this point in our development, we don’t match up with them. Tip your cap to them, but we’re an up-and-coming program, and I love where we’re at right now long-term.”

Orange Coast League

Calvary Chapel 6, Costa Mesa 0

SCORE BY INNINGS

Gonzales and Rambo; Ramirez and Milne. W – Gonzales, 5-4. L – Ramirez. 2B – Jackson (CC), Coyne (CC), Rambo (CC), Lopez (CM).

MATT SZABO may be reached at (714) 966-4614 or by e-mail at matthew.szabo@latimes.com.