YOUNG EASTLAKE MANAGES A WIN
On a softball team with six freshmen starters still trying to find their way, senior pitcher Rylee Alfaro continues to be their guide.
While Eastlake High’s record is under .500, the Titans are making progress despite what the statistics reveal.
Coming into the postseason Tuesday with a play-in game at Carlsbad in Division I, no one thought the young Titans would be remembered.
They will now. Alfaro shut out the seventh-seeded Lancers until the bottom of the seventh inning and registered a strikeout for the final out with the bases loaded to preserve a 2-1 victory.
“Rylee is why every coach wants seniors on their team,” Eastlake coach Tony Richter said. “From the getgo this year, games like this one are the norm for us. It looks like we have no business winning, but we find a way.”
By finding a way to win this time in the play-in round game means No. 10 Eastlake (10-13) advances to Thursday’s first-round game at No. 2 seed Cathedral Catholic.
Carlsbad (10-14), which entered the game with six wins in the last eight outings including wins over Rancho Buena Vista, Torrey Pines and El Camino, was eliminated despite receiving a 15strikeout performance from sophomore pitcher Abby Huhn.
Alfaro and Huhn battled in a scoreless tie through one out in the top of the sixth inning. After Alfaro grounded out, the shutout ended when junior Abby Steffen lined a drive over the left-field fence for her second homer and a 1-0 lead.
“It’s frustrating to sit in the dugout inning after inning in a scoreless tie as a pitcher,” said Alfaro, who was 3-for-4 batting. “I’ve learned over the years, stuff happens quickly. Nothing changed for me except I had a run.”
Shortly, the Titans, who dropped a 4-3 decision to Carlsbad in the Cougar Classic on Feb. 26, got a second run.
Senior Ava Chavarria dribbled an infield single and took second on a throwing error, and shortstop Valeria Castro, also a senior, singled to right for a 2-0 lead.
Carlsbad made the visitors from Chula Vista squirm a bit in the final inning.
Emerson Jarrard opened the last inning with a ground-rule double and one out later the tying run reached first base with a single by Josie Waite.
On an infield roller that Shelby Musgrove beat out for a single, Carlsbad sliced the deficit to 2-1.
A fielder’s choice and a walk loaded the bases for Huhn, who worked the count to 2-2 before Alfaro recorded just her sixth strikeout.
Alfaro fought off the Lancers in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings when they had runners in scoring position.