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Orange leadoff hitter Madyson Valerio gets ready for a pitch Wednesday. (PHOTOS: Adam Kunin,For OC Sports Zone).
Despite cutting the deficit to as few as little as one run, Orange’s comeback effort came up short in a 3-1 loss to Cathedral City in a CIF Division 8 softball quarterfinal round playoff game Wednesday at Orange.
The Lions (14-14) move on to the semifinals, where they will meet Lennox Academy Saturday.
Although Orange (9-12) couldn’t accomplish its ultimate goal of a CIF championship, its turnaround to make the playoffs and go on a post season run after losing its first seven games of the regular season stands as an impressive accomplishment.
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“I told them, ‘At the end only one team’s going to end up happy and winning and everybody’s going to go through the last feeling, but not to put their heads down for that,” Coach Lexie Shue said. “They worked hard. They came back from 0-7, and to get this far, we were all very proud as coaches.”
Much of this midseason reversal can be attributed to the return of star sophomore right-handed pitcher Scarlett Poitra, who was sidelined due to injury for a significant portion of the season. Poitra got the start on Wednesday and turned in another stellar outing, striking out 10 Lion hitters and only conceding two earned runs across her seven innings in the circle.
She credited her teammates and a simple approach to her success over the course of the season.
“I just try my best. And sometimes things work out and sometimes they don’t,” Poitra said. “If I’m having an off day, I know my team is going to be there to back me up.”
The two earned runs she allowed came at the hands of Cathedral City starting pitcher, junior right-hander Sayuri Toledo. Toledo’s solo homer over the center field fence in the fourth inning gave her team a 2-0 lead.
Even though Orange threatened a few times in the later innings, Toledo managed to hold the Panthers at bay. She fanned a whopping 17 Orange hitters and didn’t allow a single earned run to secure a 3-1 win for Cathedral City.
Poitra, who scored the Panthers’ lone run of the day in the fourth, remained proud of her team for its perseverance not only in the team’s final game but all season long.
“They really stepped up and showed that it’s a team sport,” Poitra said. “Once we came together, everybody started doing well.”
As only a sophomore, she still has two years left at Orange High School, giving her plenty of time to continue to lead the Panthers toward postseason success.
“I’m looking forward to building off what we had this season and being able to grow from that,” Poitra said. “And to possibly make it farther next season.”
Meanwhile, the loss marks the end of the road for Orange’s seniors, who helped the program steadily rise in trajectory. Shue believes their contributions will leave a lasting impact on the rest of the Panthers’ roster, which looks to carry its momentum into next season.
“These four seniors have been with me since I started, and every year they’ve made it a goal to get better. I think they’ve succeeded in that,” Shue said. “They’ve succeeded in that progress so that these girls (Orange’s returners) now know what it feels like to come back, to be successful and to keep getting a little bit further every season.”