Santiago wins with big rally
WHITTIER >> “Why not us?”
Those words have been spoken a number of times by Santiago softball coach Chris Cisneros during the postseason. And he opened Thursday’s postgame speech with those same three words.
Santiago scored five runs in the top of the seventh inning, including four with two outs, to stun No. 1-seeded California 6-5 in a CIF SoCal Division II Regional semifinal game.
Saturday, the No. 5-seeded Sharks (17-14-2) will hit the road for a third time this week and face the winner of Friday’s semifinal between No. 2 Capistrano Valley and No. 3 El Capitan.
Santiago collected eight hits in six innings against California starter Pricilla Ramirez, but only one of those came with a runner in scoring position. Ramirez escaped jams in the third and fourth innings and kept the
Sharks off the board until the fifth inning.
Then a curious decision was made, as California coach Jason Ramirez made a change in the circle to start the seventh. The Condors (219-2) had a seemingly comfortable 5-1 lead.
Alexis Salas retired the first batter she faced before giving up a solo home run to Santiago center fielder Ashleigh Mejia. Salas walked the next batter, but recorded the second out via a fly ball.
That 21st and final out proved an elusive one for the Condors, however.
Santiago pitcher Emily Delgado registered her fourth hit of the afternoon, a double that trimmed the deficit to 5-3, and Ashley Duran’s RBI single got the Sharks within a run.
Hailey Chavolla could not make a running grab on Alyson Stofilla’s line drive to right field, so Santiago had runners on second and third.
Ramirez returned to circle, but Santiago third baseman
Ashley Field jumped on the first pitch and ripped a single through the left side to plate two runs and put the Sharks ahead.
“I’d seen her before, so I wasn’t nervous,” said Field, who was 0 for 3 before that hit.
Cisneros was not surprised to see his players string together those hits in the seventh.
“We just needed to get our timing down, and it all came together during that final inning,” Cisneros said. “Ashley Field has been clutch all season, so why not do it again today?”
Coach Ramirez explained why he decided to make the change in the circle in the seventh.
“The top of their order was getting some good swings, and they were going to be facing Pricilla for the fourth time,” Ramirez said. “I thought giving them a different look might give them problems. Sometimes you overthink things as a coach, and that’s what happened today.”
California grabbed a 3-0 lead in the third inning, with second baseman Isabella Salas, third baseman Mia Martinez and designated player Shirley Acevedo each driving in a run. Chavolla and Miranda McKiernan each knocked in a run in the fifth and sixth innings, respectively.
Delgado said the loss to Capistrano Valley in the CIF Southern Section Division 3 final has motivated the team. The Sharks opened the regional playoffs with a 4-0 win at Carlsbad.
“We’ve bounced back and are going to keep fighting until the very end,” Delgado said.
Despite the heartbreaking ending, Jason Ramirez was thankful for the opportunity to coach this team one more time. Ramirez was diagnosed with ALS, the neurodegenerative condition also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, in April.
“We had a great season and it was fun being back together for this week,” Ramirez said.