Diablos Win Wild Slugfest For Division 2 Title

Mission Viejo was on the receiving end of a gut-wrenching loss to Yucaipa in last year’s CIF Southern Section Division 2 championship game.

“Almost right away I was like, ‘I do not want to feel this way again,'” said Mission Viejo ace Kyra Snyder, who got roughed up for four runs in the top of the first inning by Moreno Valley Valley View in the Division 2 title game on Friday night at Bill Barber Park in Irvine.

The top-seeded Diablos, who were making their third consecutive appearance in the finals, responded with four runs in the bottom of the first and went on to a 9-6 victory over the Eagles to claim their second Division 2 championship in three years.

“We just believed in the team and got it done,” said Snyder, a Louisville commit, who ended up going the distance to get the win.

Mission Viejo coach Troy Ybarra, who suffered a bout with vertigo on Tuesday morning that kept him hospitalized for two days, said his team was talking about game they played as youngsters where they pulled off amazing comebacks after they fell behind in the top of the first.

“They didn’t get down at all,” Ybarra said. “They were all out there fired up. Nothing rattled them. That’s what this team is all about. It’s a total team effort.”

Valley View struck early after an error to start the game and an RBI single by Army-bound Katie Ontiveros quickly put the Eagles on the board. Jasmin Lucero and St. Mary’s-bound Eileen Perez followed with RBI singles and Abby Bates walked with the bases loaded to force in a fourth run as the Eagles sent 10 batters to the plate in the top of the first.

Mission Viejo responed just as quick with four runs in the bottom of the first. An error, a hit batter and a single by Princeton-bound Allison Harvey loaded the bases with two outs and Illinois-commit Bella Loya cleared the bases with a three-run double. Bowling Green-commit Sammy Dees drove in Loya to tie it, 4-4.

Valley View refused to go quietly as Ontiveros launched a solo shot to right field that gave the Eagles a 5-4 edge in the top of the second.

Mission Viejo got its first lead in the bottom of the third when Dees came through with an RBI double and St. John’s-commit Peyton Cody added an RBI single to make it 6-5. Arizona State-commit Terra McGowan’s solo blast to left field made it 7-5 in the bottm of the fourth.

“Everybody hit the ball hard today,” Ybarra said, “whether they were outs or they were hits. They came through against Yucaipa (in the quarterfinals). They came through against (Westlake Village) Oaks Christian (in the semifinals).”

Fresno State-bound Schuylar Broussard helped ValleyView close the gap to 7-6 with a solo shot to left field in the top of the fifth.

But Cody had an RBIsingle in the bottom of the fifth and Harvey had an RBI single in the sixth for a 9-6 cushion.

Snyder is known for her change-up, but Ybarra said he wanted to wait to deploy her signature pitch. From the third inning on, with the exception of Broussard’s homer, Snyder was back in command thanks to her change-up’s effectiveness.

“I waited to use Kyra’s change-up later,” Ybarra said. “I wanted to go earlier, but I didn’t want to use it early, so I waited and it was the right time. As you can see the lefty that hit the home run, I gave her change-ups the rest of the night and struck her out twice. So I waited … I didn’t want to wait too long. She (Snyder) knew what we were doing. She knew that was our game plan, not to show (the change-up) early, and our offense kept us alive.”

After winning the Division 2 championship, Mission Viejo (27-4), ranked No. 5 in the state by CalHiSports.com, is in position to claim the state championship if top-ranked Orange Lutheran falters against No. 7 Santa Ana Mater Dei in the Division 1 title game on Saturday at 6 p.m. at Bill Barber Park. No. 12 Valley View, which upset No. 2 La Habra, 3-2, in the semifinals, finished the season 27-2.

GRAND TERRACE CLAIMS FIRST CIF-SS TITLE

Grand Terrace was either going to exorcise some demons or relive a nightmare heading into the final inning of the CIF-Southern Section Division 3 championship game on Friday at Bill Barber Park in Irvine.

The Titans blew a four-run lead in last year’s loss to Whittier La Serna in the Division 3 title game, but this time they beat Redondo Beach Redondo Union, 5-2, on a wild game-ending double to play to win their first softball championship in school history.

Eastern Michigan-bound Danielle Rico belted a two-run homer to center field in the bottom of the third and Grand Terrace took a 5-1 lead into the top of the seventh.

Redondo Union loaded the bases on a walk and two errors, then Kate Cunningham scored from third on a wild pitch to cut it to 5-2. A one-out walk by Oklahoma-bound pitcher Melanie Olmos loaded the bases again for the Sea Hawks. Redondo’s clean-up hitter Sam Pech lined a single into shallow center that Grand Terrace’s Marissa Jauregui almost caught with a diving attempt.

Jauregui was quick to react and got the force at second and shortstop Alyssa Martinez turned and fired for home plate. The only problem for Redondo Union was the runner at third started for home plate and went back to third. Meanwhile, the runner from second was rounding third and they overran each other. After a conference between the officials and both coaches, it was ruled a game-ending double play.

“I didn’t know the runner overran third, so I was confused,” Olmos said. “I didn’t know what happened. It was crazy. I didn’t think that was the game was going to end.”

Grand Terrace is ranked No. 4 in the lastest CalHiSports.com state rankings and No. 2 Los Alamitos and No. 3 La Habra were eliminated in the semifinals, top-ranked Orange Lutheran can clinch the state championship with a win over No. 7 Mater Dei in the Division 1 title game on Saturdayat 6 p.m. The winner of No. 5 Mission Viejo and No. 12 Moreno Valley Valley View in the Division 2 final has a better shot at the state title with an Orange Lutheran loss than Grand Terrace, accordingto CalHiSports.com.

See the latest FAB 50 National High School Rankings

Olmos ended up allowing three hits, walking three and striking out nine to get the complete game win for the Titans (28-1), who ended the season with a 26-game winning streak. North Carolina State-commit Lilly Bishop went 1 for 3 with an RBI on a squeeze and Hawaii-commit Morgan Parsons had an RBI single for Grand Terrace.

Allison Betty went 2 for 3 with a run and a double and Gayle Wilson had an RBI single for Redondo Union (23-10), which was making its first appearance in the finals since 1994.

Written by Carlos Arias