El Segundo gets payback, gains tourney semifinals
Sienna Mayer and the El Segundo softball team exacted a bit of revenge on Redondo in Friday's Torrance National Tournament Gold Division quarterfinal round at Torrance High.
Mayer had a first-inning home run, and the Eagles offense gave starting pitcher Maiya Anderson enough run support to propel El Segundo to a 2-1 victory and into today's tournament semifinals.
El Segundo (6-5) will play West Torrance at 2 p.m. for a chance to play for the tournament championship. Both the semifinal and final round will be played at Redondo High.
“We played (Redondo) a few weeks ago (Feb. 29) and lost at home,” Mayer said. “It was huge to come back in this tournament to get to (today).”
After fouling off the first pitch of her first at-bat, Mayer knew the adjustment she needed to make.
“I got jammed on the first pitch,” Mayer said. “So I stepped off the plate, swung a little easier and it went where it went.”
Mayer deposited Redondo (7-4) starter Bailey Murray's offering over the fence in left-center field, making it a 1-1 game in the bottom of the first inning.
In the third, El Segundo's offense played small ball to push across its second run.
Kacey Ekstrom led off with a single, took second on a sacrifice bunt and scored on Allie Stevenson's single to center field.
“When we tied it (in the first inning), I was happy,” Anderson said. “I knew it was Allie's time (in the third), and I knew I had to settle down, not get too anxious and do what I do best.”
Redondo took the early 1-0 lead after Scotti Weems doubled with one-out, took third on a wild pitch and scored on Abby Luis' sacrifice fly.
That's all Anderson allowed. Utilizing her screwball and curveball, the right-hander scattered three hits after the first inning, striking out six while not giving up a walk.
“We didn't go after the first strike,” Redondo coach Jennifer
Dessert said. “The fattest pitch is the first strike. When they discipline themselves and go after that pitch, they're successful.”
Anderson also adjusted to the home plate umpire's strike zone.
“I was working with the umpire's strike zone, using it to my advantage to get high pitches called for strikes,” Anderson said.
The Eagles defense behind Anderson also kept Redondo from putting together a rally. Of the 18 outs she recorded, Anderson induced seven ground ball outs and five fly outs.
Murray allowed two runs on three hits while striking out three for Redondo, and Dessert praised her starter for rebounding after giving up the early home run.
“If there's something (Murray) is doing that she isn't happy with, she'll work on it more” Dessert said. “After the first inning, she went and did some side work, came back and did great.”
Iris Castor finished the game for Redondo. The right-hander allowed one hit in two-plus innings before the game was called due to time.