Orange Lutheran Captures Carew Classic Championship
Orange Lutheran Captures Carew Classic Championship
Top-ranked Orange Lutheran appears to be peaking at the perfect time with only one week remaining in the regular season and the CIF-SS Division 1 playoffs o
Top-ranked Orange Lutheran appears to be peaking at the perfect time with only one week remaining in the regular season and the CIF-SS Division 1 playoffs on the horizon.
The Lancers, ranked No. 1 in Orange County by OC Sidelines and No. 1 in the state by CalHiSports.com, rallied from an early 3-1 deficit to beat Huntington Beach, 6-3, in the championship game of the Michelle Carew Classic on Saturday at Canyon High in Anaheim.
“We play as a team and we don’t rely on one person to have that pressure to ome through all the time,” South Carolina-bound shortstop Mackenzie Boesel said. “If one person doesn’t do their job, somebody else is going to step up and get that done. We just have to keep doing what we’re doing and take one game at a time, don’t look ahead and keep having these team wins that we’ve been having.”
OLu (26-3), which locked up the Trinity League title with a 14-3 win over Santa Ana Mater Dei, ranked No. 7 in the state, on Friday, ran its winning streak to 13 games, while the Oilers, ranked No. 6 in the state, dropped to 20-4.
See the FAB 50 National High School Rankings
“We’ve been playing really good defensively and offensively we’re hitting really well throughout our lineup,” Lancers coach Steve Miklos said. “We’re putting a lot of pressure on teams. we chipped away. Huntington Beach is a very good team. They out-hit us, but we stepped up and limited damage when we got people on base. That’s a key to winning games. Teams are going to hit, especially good teams. It’s just minimizingdamage when they do. We’ve done a good job of that.”
Louisiana State-committed freshman Ciara Briggs walked, took second on an illegal pith, stole third and scored on Lauren Espalin’s single to left field to give OLu a 1-0 lead in the top of the first.
The Lancers started freshman Mia Bagatourian and the Oilers roughed her up for six hits and three runs in the bottom of the first. Oregon-commit Allee Bunker had a two-run single and Maryland-bound Anna Kufta’s RBI single staked Huntington Beach to a 3-1 lead.
“The game kind of went on a life of its own,” Miklos said. “We started a freshman. Maddy (Dwyer) had just pitched (on Friday) and was like, ‘I don’t really want to throw her very much.’ We have one more game Tuesday, so we kind of played it by ear. So I started the freshman and she did a pretty good job. That’s a good hitting team. She made some nice pitches and they got some hits, not hard hits. They hit her, but she did a really nice job.”
But the lead was short-lived for the Oilers as South Carolina-bound Mackenzie Boesel came through with a two-run double off the fence in center field that tied it, 3-3, in the top of the second.
Chaminade-bound Alisen Endsley drove in two run with a double to the gap in left-center field and Kira La Scola’s grounder to second produced an unearned run to break a 3-3 tie in the top of the fifth and give the Lancers a 6-3 lead.
Wagner-bound Amelia Van Orman relived Bagatourian in the bottom of the second and threw three scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out one to get the win for OLu. Stanford-commit Maddy Dwyer pitched the final three innings to lock down the save for the Lancers.
“The key for us was Amelia, the second pitcher that came in,” Miklos said. “She did a really nice job, keeping them in check, keeping them off balance. that was a huge performance by her. She really kept us in the game.”
Callie Saccacio drove in Ivy Davis with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the sixth to cut it to 6-4, but but Dwyer struck out Alyssa Horeczko and Kristina Inouye, who have both signed with Stanford, to leave the bases loaded to end the sixth.
“I wasn’t planning on throwing her,” Miklos said of his ace, “but with a three-run lead and a couple of innings to go we’ll bring in Maddy and see if she can close it. She did a good job. Our defense did a good job. (Boesel) made some great plays at short. Our catcher (Espalin) made hug play, throwing out that girl at second. Outfield made some good plays. Taylor (Whitney) made a nice catch.”
Horeczko started for the Oilers and gave up three hits, three walks and three runs and Arizona-commit Ivy Davis relieved her and gave up two hits, three runs, five walks and and struck out two to take the loss.
“Recently we’ve been a little tentative at the plate,” Oilers coach Jeff Forsberg said. “We need to be aggressive, put the ball in play and good things will happen.”
Written by Carlos Arias
Related:
Maddy Dwyer Dominates the Circle with Three No-Hitters
12 Questions with Cardinal commit Maddy Dwyer
Firecrackers Signing Party
The Lancers, ranked No. 1 in Orange County by OC Sidelines and No. 1 in the state by CalHiSports.com, rallied from an early 3-1 deficit to beat Huntington Beach, 6-3, in the championship game of the Michelle Carew Classic on Saturday at Canyon High in Anaheim.
“We play as a team and we don’t rely on one person to have that pressure to ome through all the time,” South Carolina-bound shortstop Mackenzie Boesel said. “If one person doesn’t do their job, somebody else is going to step up and get that done. We just have to keep doing what we’re doing and take one game at a time, don’t look ahead and keep having these team wins that we’ve been having.”
OLu (26-3), which locked up the Trinity League title with a 14-3 win over Santa Ana Mater Dei, ranked No. 7 in the state, on Friday, ran its winning streak to 13 games, while the Oilers, ranked No. 6 in the state, dropped to 20-4.
See the FAB 50 National High School Rankings
“We’ve been playing really good defensively and offensively we’re hitting really well throughout our lineup,” Lancers coach Steve Miklos said. “We’re putting a lot of pressure on teams. we chipped away. Huntington Beach is a very good team. They out-hit us, but we stepped up and limited damage when we got people on base. That’s a key to winning games. Teams are going to hit, especially good teams. It’s just minimizingdamage when they do. We’ve done a good job of that.”
Louisiana State-committed freshman Ciara Briggs walked, took second on an illegal pith, stole third and scored on Lauren Espalin’s single to left field to give OLu a 1-0 lead in the top of the first.
The Lancers started freshman Mia Bagatourian and the Oilers roughed her up for six hits and three runs in the bottom of the first. Oregon-commit Allee Bunker had a two-run single and Maryland-bound Anna Kufta’s RBI single staked Huntington Beach to a 3-1 lead.
“The game kind of went on a life of its own,” Miklos said. “We started a freshman. Maddy (Dwyer) had just pitched (on Friday) and was like, ‘I don’t really want to throw her very much.’ We have one more game Tuesday, so we kind of played it by ear. So I started the freshman and she did a pretty good job. That’s a good hitting team. She made some nice pitches and they got some hits, not hard hits. They hit her, but she did a really nice job.”
But the lead was short-lived for the Oilers as South Carolina-bound Mackenzie Boesel came through with a two-run double off the fence in center field that tied it, 3-3, in the top of the second.
Chaminade-bound Alisen Endsley drove in two run with a double to the gap in left-center field and Kira La Scola’s grounder to second produced an unearned run to break a 3-3 tie in the top of the fifth and give the Lancers a 6-3 lead.
Wagner-bound Amelia Van Orman relived Bagatourian in the bottom of the second and threw three scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out one to get the win for OLu. Stanford-commit Maddy Dwyer pitched the final three innings to lock down the save for the Lancers.
“The key for us was Amelia, the second pitcher that came in,” Miklos said. “She did a really nice job, keeping them in check, keeping them off balance. that was a huge performance by her. She really kept us in the game.”
Callie Saccacio drove in Ivy Davis with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the sixth to cut it to 6-4, but but Dwyer struck out Alyssa Horeczko and Kristina Inouye, who have both signed with Stanford, to leave the bases loaded to end the sixth.
“I wasn’t planning on throwing her,” Miklos said of his ace, “but with a three-run lead and a couple of innings to go we’ll bring in Maddy and see if she can close it. She did a good job. Our defense did a good job. (Boesel) made some great plays at short. Our catcher (Espalin) made hug play, throwing out that girl at second. Outfield made some good plays. Taylor (Whitney) made a nice catch.”
Horeczko started for the Oilers and gave up three hits, three walks and three runs and Arizona-commit Ivy Davis relieved her and gave up two hits, three runs, five walks and and struck out two to take the loss.
“Recently we’ve been a little tentative at the plate,” Oilers coach Jeff Forsberg said. “We need to be aggressive, put the ball in play and good things will happen.”
Written by Carlos Arias
Related:
Maddy Dwyer Dominates the Circle with Three No-Hitters
12 Questions with Cardinal commit Maddy Dwyer
Firecrackers Signing Party