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Pacifica softball players celebrate after Thursday’s comeback playoff win. (Photos courtesy Jim McCormack, For OC Sports Zone).
It was a quintessential example of Yogi Berra’s famous declaration “it ain’t over till it’s over.”
Trailing by four runs after one inning, Pacifica rallied to edge La Mirada, 6-5, in eight innings in a CIF Division 1 first-round softball playoff game at John Glenn High School in Norwalk Thursday.
Very little went right for the visiting Mariners in the first inning when La Mirada (18-8) combined three hits with a walk, hit batter and Pacifica error to score four runs.
Those runs seemed more than adequate through four innings, but junior pitcher Brynne Nally kept La Mirada at bay and, in the top of the fifth, momentum began to swing.
To see the slide show, click on the first photo:
Pacifica opened the fifth with a walk and freshman designated player Leyla Ayers launched a 2-run blast into a cluster of fans standing beyond the left field fence.
Six of the next eight Mariner batters had been retired when Ayres opened the seventh with a single to right. She advanced to second on a fly out and to third on a passed ball. She then scored on Nally’s fly ball to left, reducing the deficit to 4-3.
Kaniya Bragg kept the inning alive with a two-out single and Delania Ma’ae followed with a booming home run to left, putting the Mariners ahead for the first time, 5-4.
The lead didn’t last long. Two Pacifica errors in the bottom of the seventh and a base hit sent Alyssa Avila home with the tying run before Nally struck out the final two batters of the inning.
Michela Meza was hit by a pitch to open the top of the eighth for Pacifica and was still at first two outs later. Nally added another chapter to her remarkable performance with a rocket to the base of
the wall in left center for a double, Meza scoring easily from first.
There was one more test for the Mariners … La Mirada’s Rebecca Eckart walked to open the bottom of the eighth, but Nally induced a ground ball which shortstop Ksniya Bragg, second baseman
Alysa Del Val and first baseman Annika Sogsti turned into a quick double play.
Nally then recorded the final out on a strike out, earning the Mariners a home game Tuesday against the winner of Friday’s Los Alamitos-Mission Viejo game.
It is the third year in a row Pacifica has advanced to the quarterfinal round.
—Courtesy Jim McCormack, For OC Sports Zone
