Late missteps cost Orange Vista in loss in Division 6 title game

IRVINE >> The Orange Vista softball team got much of what it wanted Saturday at Deanna Manning Stadium.

The hits. The opportunities. Gritty pitching from its ace.

Everything but what the Coyotes wanted most.

A couple of unearned runs in the bottom of the sixth inning meant the difference as top-seeded St. Bonaventure escaped with a 4-2 victory in the CIF Southern Section Division 6 championship.

It was the first title-game appearance for any girls team from Orange Vista.

“All year we’ve been able to pull out games,” Orange Vista coach Roy Johnson said. “When we tied it, I was very excited. I felt great about our chances.”

The tying run for the Coyotes (17-5) came on a home run by senior catcher Anabelle Calderon.

The bottom of the order was coming up for St. Bonaventure (20-6) in the sixth and the big guns were due up for Orange Vista in the seventh. But the sixth turned ugly for Orange Vista as it committed three errors and allowed a go-ahead single to Rachel Williams. Another run scored on a failed pickoff attempt at third.

The Coyotes outhit St. Bonaventure 10-5, but left six runners in scoring position and had a runner cut down on the bases.

Orange Vista ace Christyona Arballo appeared to deserve a better outcome. Aside from the team’s defensive issues, Arballo and the Coyotes were clearly frustrated with the ball-and-strike calls.

“Don’t get me started,” said catcher Calderon. “We were moving the ball all over and he kept telling me it was just missing.”

Calderon helped the Coyotes get a quick start with a run in the top of the first. She drilled a two-out single, followed by a single from Arballo and a walk to load the bases. Nia Smaw took a pitch off the foot to bring the run home.

The lead didn’t survive the first, though ,as two walks, a hit batter and a sacrifice fly tied the score.

Two errors and two singles generated a go-ahead, unearned run for the Seraphs in the third. That meant that Arballo allowed just one earned run, and that came without a hit.

“She pitched a heck of a game,” Johnson said.