Flores’ role: firing blanks

CORONA DEL MAR — In her second season as Estancia High’s primary pitcher, Cheyanne Flores has come full circle.

Last season, her first in the circle in three seasons and her first at Estancia after transferring from Newport Harbor, Flores tolerated pitching. She put together a solid season, going 12-8 with an earned-run average better than 3.00 and helped the Eagles make the CIF Southern Section playoffs for the third straight year.

In her senior season, however, she has become consistently intolerant, at least when it comes to allowing opponents to score.

Flores allowed two hits in the Eagles’ 11-0 nonleague victory at Corona del Mar Thursday, a game limited to five innings due to the 10-run mercy rule.

It was the third straight shutout for Flores, who has thrown blanks in five of the last six games to help the Eagles turn a 1-3 start into a 6-4 record as they near the opening of Orange Coast League play on April 13.

“I’m a whole new pitcher,” said Flores, who began taking pitching lessons late last season and has continued ever since. “I’m much more comfortable and I think I’ve improved everything about my pitching.”

Estancia Coach Judd Fryslie said the major improvement has been in Flores’ control.

“Now, she throws it where she wants it to go,” Fryslie said. “She’s not overpowering, as far as speed, but she has four pitches and she throws it where she wants to throw it.”

Flores was virtually thrown into the lurch last season.

“She hadn’t pitched since she was 13,” Fryslie said. “But of course we needed pitching, so she pitched for us. Basically, she said ‘If I’m going to pitch, I better get back to being serious,’ and so she started taking pitching lessons at the end of last season. She even pitched on her travel ball team during the summer and got a lot of innings in.”

Flores, who struck out nine Wednesday in the Eagles’ 1-0 win at San Juan Hills, had five strikeouts against the Sea Kings (5-7).

But until Delaney Owen lined a single to center field in the fifth, the only CdM hit had been a soft line drive off the bat of Haley Lutton that popped out of Flores’ glove for an infield hit in the third inning.

Flores walked one and faced just two more than the minimum. No CdM runner reached second base.

Flores, now 5-3, lowered her ERA from 2.10 to 1.87.

The Eagles provided an ample cushion in the first inning, when they scored four runs without the aid of a hit.

Three walks, two hit batters and a pair of wild pitches helped the first four Eagles hitters score as Kassie Stratton (bases-loaded walk) and Ray Reynolds (sacrifice fly) collected runs batted in.

Estancia added two in the third, three in the fourth and two more in the fifth as all but one spot in the lineup contributed to the nine-hit attack.

Leadoff hitter Kyla Hull was two for three with a walk and two RBIs. She also scored twice.

Stratton and Reynolds finished with two RBIs apiece, while Amy Hartwell and Claire Woodside also singled in runs for the winners.

Reynolds leads the team with 12 RBIs.

Jill Beck, Maliah Murtha and Kendra Fisher also had hits for the Eagles.

CdM received solid defense from shortstop Ashley Varner, one of only two seniors on the team. The rest of Coach John Falicetti’s roster consists of freshmen and sophomores.

Sophomore catcher Lindsey Susolik has also been a standout this season for CdM. She entered Thursday batting .581 with an eye-popping 18 RBIs.

Nonleague

Estancia 11, Corona del Mar 0

SCORE BY INNINGS

Flores and Hull; Owen, Meyers (1), Owen (5) and Susolik. W – Flores, 5-3. L – Owen. 2B – Stratton (E), Hull (E).