SOUTHERN SECTION SOFTBALL PLAYOFFS : Lauby’s Shutout Paces El Toro

At the start of the softball season, El Toro High School Coach Jim Daugherty had three aces in his pitching rotation--Paige Lauby, Jennifer Jordan and Trabuco Hills transfer Marta Bickert. None of them knew for sure who was No. 1, and Daugherty wasn’t tipping his hand.

Well, Lauby solved the mystery Tuesday, after three hours and 58 minutes on the mound. She pitched the top-seeded Chargers to a 14-inning, 1-0 victory at Trabuco Hills in the second round of the Southern Section 3-A playoffs.

“She’s unhittable!” Daugherty said. “How could I throw anybody else?”

For seven innings, Lauby (13-2) was unhittable. She struck out 12 of the first 15 batters she faced and didn’t give up a hit until the bottom of the eighth. Lauby finished with a five-hitter, struck out 20 and walked four.

“She got tired and she just kept reaching down to her toes for more,” Daugherty said. “She’s a competitor and she’s not about to give up. I just think that she has a lot of courage.”

El Toro (23-8) has had trouble scoring runs, which has frustrated Lauby at times, Daugherty said. Tuesday, the Chargers again struggled and needed some help from Trabuco Hills (20-9).

It came in the top of the 14th, when Kymm Maniscalco reached on a walk, her third of the game to go along with a single. Corrie Yauney sacrificed her to second, and she took third on Karie Yoshioka’s single. Trabuco Hills pitcher Brianna Burkman, a freshman, intentionally walked Jaime Smith to load the bases and bring up Jourden, the Chargers’ cleanup hitter.

Trabuco Hills Coach Mike Flanegin then put Linda Lunceford, his stellar shortstop and stepdaughter on the mound, despite her back spasms and the fact she had only pitched about 25 innings this season.

Lunceford got two strikes on Jourden, then let loose a wild pitch. Jourden swung, striking out, but Maniscalco was able to score the decisive run after the pitch bounced at the plate and skidded away from catcher Christy Lunceford, Linda’s sister.

Flanegin had no reservations about his substitution. “She struck the girl out,” he said. “The catcher just didn’t make the catch. Brianna was mentally exhausted at that point. She told me so the inning before. I probably should have replaced her sooner.”

Burkman (12-8) pitched a four-hitter with five strikeouts and eight walks.

Lauby will need more support in El Toro’s upcoming quarterfinal game against Palmdale Thursday.

“Look at Bert Blyleven of the Angels. He got (teed) off and told his team they stunk, because they couldn’t hit,” Daugherty said. “She probably ought to be telling us that, too, at times.

“I don’t know. . . . We hit so well and supported her so well against University (in a first-round victory). But today, just crank up the emotions and we all just start gulping. I don’t say choking because we didn’t choke. All my kids hung in there today. I think they were just tight.”

In another 3-A game:

Saddleback 1, Ramona 0--Desi Abrego pitched a two-hitter, struck out nine and walked none to help visiting Saddleback advance. The Roadrunners scored in the fifth inning, when Tracy Reines hit a ground ball into right field and was thrown out at first but Kim Carstens scored from third. Saddleback, the third-seeded team in the 3-A division, is 21-2.

In a 4-A game:

Villa Park 1, Rollings Hills 0 (11 innings)--Tiffanie Fraco tripled to open the 11th for visiting Villa Park (15-10-1) and scored on an overthrow. Monique Hernandez (13-4) pitched a three-hitter with nine strikeouts and a walk for the victory.