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Beckman players huddle before Thursday’s road game with La Mirada. (PHOTOS: Tom Connolly, For OC Sports Zone).
Beckman High School’s softball team put up a battle against CIF Division 1 powerhouse La Mirada on Thursday afternoon but fell to the Matadores 3-0 in a non-league game at La Mirada.
Sophomore Alison Ortega pitched a four-hit complete game and struck out seven as La Mirada notched its 14th consecutive victory. The Matadores (19-3), ranked No. 2 in Division 1, improved their record to 9-0 at home and recorded their sixth shutout of the season.
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“I felt my screwball and curveball were working well today and it was an amazing win for us,” said Ortega, who has 21 wins this season. “They had runners on base in five of the seven innings, but I just stayed totally focused with my catcher. I knew they were there, but I just ignored them and worked on each batter.”
“Alison made her adjustments and kept her composure even when she wasn’t getting the calls,” added La Mirada sophomore catcher Riley Hilliard, who had an RBI in the fifth inning.
Matadores coach Brent Tuttle praised Ortega’s efforts.
“Alison has really done a great job for us this year; she’s learned so much from last season and she wants the ball all the time and she has really stepped it up,” said Tuttle.
Juliana Rivara led off the bottom of the second for the Matadores and ended up at second base when a fly to left field was misplayed. She moved to third on a passed ball and scored one out later on an infield ground out, giving La Mirada a 1-0 lead.
The Patriots starting pitcher Kiyomi Okamoto, was throwing well through four innings. The junior right hander held the Matadores in check as she struck out five batters and did not allow a walk.
However, in the fifth inning, Okamoto gave up a base hit and then back-to-back walks. Jess Peralta relieved Okamota with the bases loaded and no outs. Peralta, a junior, gave up a single but retired three of the four batters she faced, but La Mirada pushed across two more runs and led 3-0.
“We had scoring opportunities in a number of innings, but we couldn’t get that timely hit when we needed it,” said Patriots first year coach Josh Ertz. “We got in a pickle when they got the bases loaded and they scored a few runs. But our team is young and we’re bonding and starting to understand our abilities. La Mirada is a Division 1 team and we battled with them. We got good pitching, and we played good defense.”
Beckman (12-7) left runners on base in five of the seven innings as Ortega was able to pitch out of several jams and keep the Patriots off the scoreboard.
Despite the setback, Beckman third baseman Diya Malik said the team is going to be fine.
“We came into today’s game knowing that we are playing a Division 1 team but we were loose,” said Malik, a senior. “We didn’t want to let them get into our heads and we played good defense and pitched well. We’ll learn from this game, and it will help us as we get back into league play.”
Notes:
—Reese Hilliard had two hits for La Mirada.
—Beckman shortstop Katelyn Park made an excellent leaping catch in the fourth inning, robbing Alyssa Avila of an extra base hit.