Mission Viejo Meets Ramona in Softball

Mission Viejo High School’s softball team must feel as if it has a fairy godmother, because just when everything was going wrong, the team was granted its most desperate wish--a berth in the Southern Section 3-A playoffs.

Mission Viejo (17-8) has made the most of its at-large berth, upsetting top-seeded La Mirada on the way to today’s semifinal against Ramona (22-7) at 3:15 p.m. at Alicia Park in Mission Viejo.

But things looked bleak three weeks ago. The Diablos struggled through the last half of South Coast League play and finished fourth at 14-8.

During that stretch, the Diablos lost starting pitcher Erin Fitzgerald (0.58 earned-run average). She was trying to get into her home after school and banged on the front door just a little too hard.

“That’s all it took,” Fitzgerald said. “My hand swelled up the size of a balloon and it was all blue and it had to be casted right away.”

Fortunately, the hand was not broken, even though Fitzgerald was lost for the last half of league play.

Diablo Coach Jeff Cunningham told his team that it had to beat El Toro in the team’s final league game to have a chance for the playoffs.

Mission Viejo lost.

“The seniors went through the emotion of thinking that was their last game,” Cunningham said. “I had not even looked at the possibility of an at-large berth.”

Mission Viejo’s luck was about to change. The Diablos were granted an at-large berth, and Fitzgerald healed just in time to take the mound for the playoffs.

“Before the draw, I told the girls I didn’t know that we would be selected,” Cunningham said. “I felt we deserved to be because we had been rated in the (Southern Section) 3-A division up until the last week. We played a very good preseason, scheduling teams like Marina, Mater Dei, Canyon, Tustin, Foothill. There were only two teams on our schedule that didn’t make the playoffs.

“Our record came against quality teams, so I told the girls we deserved to be in and if we got in, we could compete with just about any team in the 3-A.”

In the playoffs, Mission Viejo has defeated South Torrance, 4-1, La Mirada, 2-1, and Montclair, 2-0.

In the 4-A division:

Kennedy (21-4) vs. Western (25-5) at Arnold Park 3:15 p.m. Kennedy, seeded fourth and the defending 3-A champion, has defeated Rolling Hills, Millikan and Sunny Hills in the playoffs. Western has defeated beat Los Amigos, Rubidoux and top-seeded Hart.