Softball: La Reina’s one-two punch takes care of business

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It was too much Kaitlynne Birkett early and too much Makenna Cox late. And, ultimately, there wasn’t much Burroughs could do about either as the sophomore pitching tandem from La Reina was effective throughout Wednesday’s Southern Section-Toyota Division III wild-card playoff game.

Birkett started the game, giving up five hits and striking out five in five innings. Cox threw two innings of scoreless relief to help the Regents to a 7-3 victory over the visiting Indians in Thousand Oaks.

‘As a coach, you can’t ask for much more than to have two reliable pitchers at your disposal,’’ Coach Bob Sisco said. ‘Kaitlynne did some big time things for us today. She gave us all the momentum we needed. And Cox came in and shut them down when she needed to.’’

Offensively, Sarah Fox and Taylor Yamek each delivered a two-RBI hits in the first inning to stake Birkett and La Reina (14-12) to a four-run lead. Teammate Maija Ehlinger had an RBI single in the fourth and Alexandra Morgan and Jordan Needle scored in the fifth inning for insurance.

Burroughs (13-13) made things somewhat interesting when Anissa Lopez scored in the fourth and Kerry Hodgins and Katie Budrick in the fifth, but the Indians could get no closer.

-- Sean Ceglinsky