Softball: Estancia rings the bell in round one against Costa Mesa

Rivalry games tend to hold their own in terms of pride and passion.

It didn’t hurt that both teams had a little more riding on the first round of the Battle for the Bell.

In a somewhat surprising turn of events, the embattled Mustangs of Costa Mesa High opened the Orange Coast League with a pair of victories.

Estancia had shown promise in the nonleague season under new head coach Michael Hunter, but the Eagles were still looking for their first league win.

An eight-run fifth inning put the Eagles right back in the playoff race, as host Estancia notched a key 12-6 victory over Costa Mesa in Friday’s Orange Coast League softball game.

At different times in the game, a cowbell could be heard from the stands. Its final ring was in favor of the Eagles (9-8, 1-2 in league) once Brittany Walker had retired the side in order in the seventh.

“This is the great thing about this community,” Hunter said. “These kids have probably played most of their lives together. One way or another, these families are connected.”

Playing in front of your family is a big deal. So, too, were the stakes. The fifth inning would decide this one.

Costa Mesa was down, 4-2, to start the frame. The Mustangs scored four runs to take a 6-4 lead, thanks in large part to run-scoring doubles by Brenna Alvis (signed with Alfred University in New York) and Haley Sheffner.

The first lead of the game for Costa Mesa (6-11, 2-1) would not last long. Kalena Shepherd doubled off the fence in right-center to begin the bottom half of the inning.

“She’s an incredible player,” Eagles shortstop Emily Kubisty said of Shepherd serving as the team’s sparkplug. “I don’t know that I’ve met a better player in my entire life. She’s amazing. She’s a natural talent, and she works really hard.”

A bunt single by Isabelle Morales loaded the bases with nobody out.

Then, command betrayed Sheffner, a junior who has stepped in to pitch for the Mustangs after the team lost three pitchers earlier this year. The Costa Mesa starter walked three and hit three batters in the fifth.

Sheffner struck out Mackenzie McIntyre and Jessica Garcia. She was one strike away from getting out of the inning with a 6-5 lead, but she walked Grecia Henriquez on a 3-2 pitch to tie the score.

A team’s best players have to play like it in big games, and Kubisty was that for the Eagles. She broke the tie with a two-run single through the left side of the infield. It was her second hit with the bases loaded in as many innings.

Later in the game, Kubisty impressed with her arm. The junior shortstop threw out Sunshine Montoya after a pop up fell in for a single for Alvis in left field.

“That felt great,” Kubisty said. “I was a little disappointed because I dropped the ball, and I thought I wasn’t going to make a play off of it. I had my catcher out there backing me up, catching the ball and making a great tag.”

Micaiah Watanabe-Patterson says that she can be hard on herself, but she looked confident at the plate in lining a bases-clearing triple inside of first base to extend the Eagles’ lead to 12-6.

The Eagles first baseman says that Kubisty’s ability to give others around her belief in themselves is one of the things that qualifies her to be a team captain.

“One thing she always tells me is, ‘Fake it until you make it. Be confident,’” Watanabe-Patterson said. “That’s one thing I really lack in this game, so she’s always there just rooting me on. I have to honestly give it to her because that’s all her right there.”

Take the bottom of the fifth out of the equation, and Mustangs Coach Heather Orduna was very pleased with the effort.

“I think we had six really strong innings,” she said. “I think that our girls are working hard. We’re still working on recovery. Both teams are going to make mistakes, but we had some great key at-bats.”

Orange Coast League

Estancia 12, Costa Mesa 6

SCORE BY INNINGS

CM 010 140 0 — 6 8 1

Est 200 028 X — 12 8 6

Sheffner and Tufuga; Walker and Shepherd. WP — Walker, 9-8. LP — Sheffner. 2B — Alvis (CM), Sheffner (CM); Shepherd (Est); 3B — Watanabe-Patterson.

Andrew.Turner@latimes.com

Twitter: @ProfessorTurner