WOODBRIDGE SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT : Wild Pitch Lifts Irvine to Championship

Carly Girton scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the 11th inning to lead Irvine High School to a 3-2 victory over Kennedy in the championship of the Woodbridge Easter tournament Wednesday night at Harvard Park in Irvine.

After the teams played to a 2-2 tie through 10 innings, the teams went to the international tiebreaker rule, where the teams start subsequent innings with a runner on second (Girton for Irvine).

With one out, Girton took third on Cheryl Longeway’s first wild pitch of the inning. That brought up Irvine pitcher Jennifer Brundage, a .433 hitter. She was intentionally walked.

Then Longeway threw the wild pitch to Brandi Armstrong and Girton came home without a play at the plate.

“She shouldn’t have been throwing anything that wild in that predicament,” Kennedy Coach Sue Hall said. “She was probably pushing the edge and shouldn’t have been. Just pushing (for) a real good pitch and she shouldn’t have.”

Irvine (17-2), sixth-ranked in the Orange County Softball Coaches’ poll, handed second-ranked Kennedy (14-2-1) only its second loss of the season.

Brundage (16-2), the tournament’s most valuable player, pitched a five-hitter with six strikeouts and three walks. She held Kennedy hitless through six innings, and Irvine appeared to have the game wrapped up heading into the bottom of the seventh. But Kennedy got three hits in the seventh, including one from sub-.100 hitter Stacey Wahlsteen that scored the tying run.

Kennedy had its chances to put the game away. In the bottom of the eighth with runners on second and third, Stefani Hill grounded to first, but the runner on third base, Danielle McLeod, didn’t go home on the throw to first.

“I told her (before) on a high chopper to the infield like that she has to go,” Hall said. “I didn’t sit there and send her and send her after she didn’t go (right away) because it was too quick a play and she would have gotten pegged.”

Irvine threw out Kennedy runners Jackie Duncan and Cheryl Longeway at the plate in the top of the 11th to set up the victory.

“We missed two chances,” Hall said. “Danielle didn’t go home on that one (play) and (Duncan) was definitely safe at home. The (catcher) never tagged her.”

Irvine second baseman Karissa Meith made the all-tournament team, as did Kennedy catcher Hill and Longeway (10-2-1), who pitched an eight-hitter with five strikeouts and four walks.

In other games:

Upland 2, Foothill 1 (10 innings)--The teams went to the international tiebreaker in the 10th. Foothill’s Kelley Green lined a single to center to break the scoreless tie, but Upland scored two runs to capture third place.

Woodbridge 3, La Mirada 2--La Mirada, sixth-ranked in the Southern Section 3-A, led, 2-0 after five, before Mary Dugard and Ann Marie Risquez singled and scored on Alison Ward’s three-run homer to lead Woodbridge (10-9) to a fifth-place finish.

Fountain Valley 3, Dana Hills 0--Rae Rice (10-0) pitched a one-hit shutout to lead Fountain Valley (14-4) to a seventh-place finish. Dana Hills is (7-10).