Lakewood's Montana Dixon might have had Orange Lutheran pitcher Maddy Dwyer's number, but Dwyer had some serious backup and second-seeded OLu was able to hold on for a 9-5 victory over Lakewood in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 quarterfinals on Thursday at Orange Lutheran High.

Dixon, who is Dwyer's catcher for Bruce Richardson's So Cal Athletics, hit a pair of homers and drove in three runs, but OLu got 13 hits off Arizona-committed Vanessa Foreman and gave Dwyer plenty of run support as it has throughout the playoffs.

"Montana is an awesome hitter," Dwyer said. "I tried all sides of the plate, but today she got the best of me. She had a great last game."

Dwyer, a junior, and Dixon, a senior, will continue to be teammates in the future at Stanford.

"I also catch her on my travel ball team," Dixon said, "so I kind of knew her strengths and where she was going to go and what she was going to rely on."

But Lakewood's late surge wasn't enough to catch OLu, which has outscored its three playoff opponents, 32-6.

"Oh my goodness, of course, as a pitcher, the run support is amazing," Dwyer said. "I know the first game was 11 runs, the next game was (12) runs and this game was nine runs. Having that support at the plate, it grants me a lot of assurance out on the field that even if I make a mistake, we still have more runs."

South Carolina-bound Mackenzie Boesel went 3 for 4 with two doubles, two runs and a stolen base, Washington-commit Noelle Hee went 2 for 3 with two RBI, Lauren Espalin drove in a run with a squeeze bunt, Mariah Rodriguez went 2 for 4 with a run and an RBI, Chaminade-bound Alisen Endsley doubled and scored a run, Amelia Van Orman drove in a run with a pinch-hit single and Louisiana State-committed freshman Ciara Briggs drilled a three-run homer to help OLu build a 9-1 lead after five innings.

"Maddy's been doing a real good job on the mound," Briggs said. "We always have her back, but she's been doing good. She's been dominating it. We always have her back on the offense. We know we need to step up at the beginning of the game and win every inning and keep going. We're doing that and we're helping her out."

Dixon, who hit a solo homer in the top of the first, added a two-run blast in the sixth to cut OLu's lead to 9-3. Lakewood loaded the bases in the top of the seventh and got an RBI fielder's choice from Cal State Fullerton-bound Ari Burns. Lakewood loaded the bases again with two outs, but Dwyer, who allowed five hits, walked two, hit two batters and struck out five, and got cleanup hitter Taylor Pack to fly out to center field to end the game.

"I'm so excited," Dwyer said. "I think everyone has been looking forward to CIF playoffs. We've been doing such a great job every game, taking it one game at a time. I think if we keep doing it, the outcome could be what we want. i'm just really excited to be in the semifinals and hopeful."

OLu, ranked No. 1 in the California by Cal-Hi Sports, plays at third-seeded Los Alamitos, ranked No. 2 in the state, in the Division 1 semifinals on Tuesday, May 31, at 3:15 p.m.

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"I know they are good competition for our team, but I think that OLu ... we can do this," Briggs said. "We have speed, we have power, so we just need to keep doing what we're doing and swing the bats."

OLu is very familiar with Los Alamitos, which eliminated OLu from the playoffs with a 7-1 victory in the second round last year.

"We're a year older, so we got that going for us," OLu coach Steve Miklos said. "Los Al is solid. It should be a good game. These games come down to who plays the best that day. I mean, the best team doesn't always win. It's who plays best and who doesn't make mistakes and who executes."

In other Top 20 games:

No. 2 Los Alamitos 4, Murrieta Vista Murrieta 1

Kaitlin Parsons stole second and third and scored on an overthrow to give the third-seeded Griffins a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first, Jade Loe's squeeze bunt produced two runs after a throwing error in the bottom of the second and Lindsi Dennis added an RBI single in the fourth to give Los Al the CIF Southern Section Division 1 win.

No. 4 La Habra 4, Oxnard Rio Mesa 2

Cal State Fullerton-commit Hannah Johnson struck out 13 to get the complete game win and Kira Cauley went 3 for 3 with an RBI and three stolen bases for the Highlanders (30-1) in the CIF Southern Section Division 2 quarterfinals.

No. 5 Grand Terrace 8, Chino Don Lugo 0

Danielle Rico went 3 for 3 with two doubles and an RBI, Oklahoma-commit Eliyah Flores went 2 for 4 with a two-run double, Marissa Jauregui went 2 for 4 with an RBI single, Alyssa Graham hit a two-run homer and Oklahoma-bound Melanie Olmos and Grand Canyon-commit Yesenia Morrison combined on the shutout for the top-seeded Titans (26-1) in the CIF Southern Section Division 3 quarterfinals. Grand Terrace plays fourth-seeded Burbank Burroughs in th semifinals on Tuesday.

No. 6 Mission Viejo 11, Yucaipa 5

Louisville-commit Kyra Snyder went 3 for 5 with a double and two RBI and got the win in the circle, Princeton-bound Allison Harvey had a two-run single and Illinois-commit Bella Loya belted a two-run homer as the Diablos (25-4) avenged last year's loss to the Thunderbirds (22-4) in the CIF Southern Section Division 2 finals. Mission Viejo plays host to Westlake Village Oaks Christian in the semifinals on Tuesday.

No. 7 San Jose Pioneer plays San Jose Archbishop Mitty for the CIF Central Coast Section Division 2 championship on Saturday.

No. 8 Norco 2, Valencia of Valencia 1

Freshman Paige Smith's RBI double in the top of the sixth gave the fourth-seeded Cougars (26-5) the victory over the Vikings (21-10) in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 quarterfinals. Norco plays the winner of Friday's Temecula Great Oak-Mater dei game in the semifinals on Tuesday.

No. 9 Sacramento Sheldon 2, Tracy

Cal-bound Fines had a two-run single and junior pitcher Taliyah Miles threw a complete game and UC Santa Barbara-commit threw out the potential game-tying run at the plate to end the game as the Huskies (30-2) captured their second consecutive CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division 1 title at Sacramento Softball Complex. Sheldon capped its season with a 25-game winning streak.

No. 10 Westlake Village Oaks Christian 3, Aliso Niguel 2

Kayla Ketring's two-run double in the top of the seventh gave the third-seeded Lions (30-1-1) a 3-1 lead and they held on for the victory over the Wolverines (22-11) in the CIF Southern Section Division 2 quarterfinals. In the bottom of the seventh, Aliso Niguel's Danielle Mandichak had an RBI single, but Gen Brittingham, the potential tying run, was gunned down at the plate on the same play.

No. 11 Moreno Valley Valley View 1, West Covina South Hills 0

St. Mary's-commit Eileen Perez outdueled Florida-committed Natalie Lugo and Katie Ontiveros drove in the lone run with a sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth as the fourth-seeded Eagles (26-1) outlasted the Huskies (22-8). Valley View hosts La Habra in the semifinals on Tuesday.

No. 12 Pleasanton Amador Valley (20-4) plays host to Brentwood Liberty (13-11) in the CIF North Coast Section Division 1 quarterfinals on Friday.

No. 13 Martinez Alhambra (21-2) plays host to Concord (16-7) in the CIF North Coast Section Division 2 quarterfinals on Friday.

No. 16 Santa Ana Mater Dei (24-7) plays host to Temecula Great Oak (17-6) in the CIF-SS Division 1 quarterfinals on Friday at 4 p.m. at Thornton Park in Santa Ana.

No. 20 Pleasanton Foothill (19-3) plays host to Union City James Logan (20-5) in the CIF North Coast Section Division 1 quarterfinals on Friday.

Written by Carlos Arias