DIVISION III SOFTBALL PLAYOFFS : Bernritter’s One-Hitter Helps Woodbridge Get Past Trabuco Hills

Woodbridge rebounded from early one-run deficits and went on to post a 5-2 victory over Trabuco Hills in a first-round Division III softball game Friday at Alton Park in Irvine.

The Warriors (21-8) scored in the third and fourth innings to tie the score, 2-2, then pulled away by scoring two runs in the fifth and one in the sixth.

Woodbridge pitcher Stephanie Bernritter (8-2) overcame early control problems but regrouped and finished with a one-hitter.

“We’re glad to get out of the first round,” Woodbridge Coach Allan Dugard said. “It can be unpredictable sometimes.”

The Mustangs (12-11) took a 1-0 lead in the first on a walk, sacrifice and a throwing error, but Woodbridge got the run back in the third on a double by Bernritter, a sacrifice bunt and an infield single by Alison Johnsen.

Trabuco Hills scored again in the fifth without a hit, when Bernritter fielded Kim Yankie’s grounder and overthrew first-basemen Keri Byrd for a two-base error. Stephanie Rapel then laid down a bunt and Byrd attempted to get Yankie at third, but instead bounced the ball into left field.

After the Warriors tied the score in the fourth on an RBI groundout by Courtney Spelber, they added two runs in the fifth.

Mustang pitcher Natalie Galasso allowed the lead-off hitter to reach base for the fourth consecutive inning when she walked Bernritter. An infield single by Johnsen and a double steal put runners on second and third before Ashley Boone and Byrd came up with two two-out RBI singles.

Woodbridge added a run in the sixth when Spelber led off with a triple to right-center and scored on a wild pitch two batters later.

“We were a little tight early on,” Dugard said. “But we realized we should be playing better and we finally started swinging the bat.”

The Warriors will meet the Redondo Beach Redondo Tuesday in the second round.

In other Division III softball:

Laguna Hills 2, Moreno Valley Canyon Springs 0--Sumer McMahon hit a two-run single in the bottom of the sixth, driving in Misty Thompson and Jennifer Arzola for Laguna Hills (15-9).

In the top of the sixth, Therese Lee (9-5) worked out of a bases-loaded jam, and went on to pitch a two-hitter for Laguna Hills, which plays the winner of Montebello-Whittier La Serna game.