SOUTHERN SECTION SOFTBALL PLAYOFF ROUNDUP : La Habra Rallies in Seventh to Beat Irvine, 2-1

Pushed to within two outs of elimination, the La Habra softball team rallied in the bottom of the seventh inning to beat Irvine, 2-1, in a first-round game of the Southern Section 4-A playoffs Thursday at La Habra.

The Highlanders (23-2), seeded No. 1 in the division, scored both their runs in their last at-bat to pull out the victory. Irvine, the defending 4-A champion, finishes the season with a 13-10 record.

La Habra advances to a second-round game Tuesday against Fontana at a site to be determined today.

But for most of the game Thursday, it looked as if the Vaqueros, who barely qualified for the playoffs as an at-large team after managing only a fourth-place finish in the South Coast League, were headed for further action.

After La Habra pitcher Dani Ortega (23-2) cruised through four innings with a perfect game, Irvine got to the right-hander in the top of the fifth.

With one out, Monika Hollstein walked and was sacrificed to second by Carly Girton. Shuye Nakabayashi followed with a single that kicked up chalk on the right-field foul line, driving in Hollstein.

The Highlanders, who wasted several scoring opportunities against Irvine right-hander Rebecca Smith (10-8) in the early innings, finally capitalized in the seventh.

DeeDee Miranda led off the inning with a single to left, but was forced out at second on a grounder by Angie Calabretta. Cathy Turner, who already had three bunt singles, reached on another bunt when Smith failed to throw out Calabretta at second on the play.

Aimee Weathers then lined a single to center field, scoring Calabretta and taking second on the throw home as Turner pulled into third. Sara Mallett walked to load the bases and with Stefanie Bakke at the plate, Smith uncorked a wild pitch that scored Turner with the winning run.

La Habra Coach Sue Briquelet was starting to wonder if her team was ever going to get a run across.

“When we couldn’t get a run when Pam (Dornik) was at third with no outs, I started to worry,” Briquelet said.

Dornik led off the second inning with a triple, but was stranded at third.

Except for the fifth inning, Ortega was never challenged. She finished with a two-hitter and struck out eight, five in the first four innings.

In other Division 4-A games:

Sunny Hills 8, Burbank Burroughs 0--Brandi Northrup struck out nine and only allowed a single in the fifth for host Sunny Hills (14-12). Northrup also drove in a run with a double in a five-run third inning. Bernie Fancuberta hit a two-run homer in the inning.

Mission Viejo 1, Western 0--Jodi Lemire (7-12) threw a two-hitter, striking out five, for Mission Viejo (11-15). She has won five of her last six games. The Diablos scored an unearned run in the first. With two outs Keirith Briesenick reached second on a throwing error. Kim Lasko followed with an RBI single to left.

Fontana 2, Canyon 1--Christine Testa tied the score in the fifth with a bases-empty home run and Fontana (18-4) broke the tie later in the inning with a run scored on a throwing error. Canyon finished at 13-12-1.

Brea-Olinda 3, Rowland 1--Shannon Nelson hit a two-run home run to break a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the sixth for Brea (18-6). Angie Hanes drove in a run in the first for the Wildcats. Andrea Schuette allowed three hits and struck out three.

Foothill 1, Fullerton 0--With two outs in the seventh, Cathleen Kennedy spoiled a perfect game by Leeann Gonzalez with a single to left. Gonzalez (20-5) struck out the next batter to complete the one-hitter and give host Foothill (22-7) the victory. Gonzalez struck out eight.

Jessica Lindquist’s single in the sixth drove in the game’s only run for the Knights, who will play Tuesday at Diamond Bar. Fullerton finished 12-15.

Capistrano Valley 2, El Modena 0--Daniela Hugelshofer pitched a two-hitter while striking out six for visiting Capistrano Valley (12-10-2). Hugelshofer hit a single to left-center field to score Danette Morris from third to highlight a two-run third. The Cougars will play host to Brea-Olinda in the second round Tuesday.

In Division 1-A:

Covina Western Christian 4, Brethren Christian 3--Western Christian (17-4) scored four unearned runs as Brethren Christian (11-7) made six errors. Shelley Grey (13-2) scattered 10 hits for the victory. She struck out eight and also had two hits. Denise Hanson had three hits and drove in all three runs for Brethren Christian.

Calvary Chapel 7, Connelly 1--Kim Schroy had two hits, including a bases-empty home run, two runs and two RBIs and Sandy Farris had a double and triple and three RBIs for host Calvary Chapel (16-7).

Whittier Christian 5, Riverside Sherman Indian 1--Debbie Goddu threw a one-hitter, striking out 13, for Whittier Christian. Goddu (16-2) had a no-hitter for 6 2/3 innings before giving up an RBI triple to Sara Vega. Cristin Crigler had two hits and two RBIs and Shelley Thums had two hits and two runs scored for Whittier Christian (16-3).