Softball: Tesoro stuns a young Anaheim Canyon squad, 9-1

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Tesoro third baseman Nicole Lund, one of only two seniors on the team, had a home run, a double and three runs batted in as the Titans provided the upset of the first round of the Southern Section-Toyota playoffs Friday with a 9-1 victory over Anaheim Canyon in a Division II game.

Although it might be debatable as to whether Agoura’s 4-2 victory over El Toro in Division I was bigger, consider the one-sidedness of this score, and the 10 hits Tesoro (16-8-1) got off Cheyanne Tarango (22-8), the freshman pitcher who has made Canyon so formidable this season. Tarango has every decision for Canyon, which was No. 11 in The Times’ rankings at the end of the regular season.

The difference, though, may have been Canyon’s youth, which finally caught up with the Comanches. They started four freshman and three sophomores. Playoffs aren’t like the regular season, even in a good league. All teams ratchet up the intensity level.

‘It was the ugliest thing,’ Canyon co-Coach Lance Eddy said. ‘This was the biggest comedy.’

Not all of it can be pinned on Tarango, but she had her worst game of the season. She walked three, gave up 10 hits, struck out only three, and all nine runs were earned.

‘She’s going to be great,’ Eddy said, ‘but today it just wasn’t there for her. This is the first time she’s had a game like this. When a drop curve comes in at the letters and gets hit over the fence, you just can’t throw like that.’

Not usually, and never in the playoffs.

-- Martin Henderson