PREP SOFTBALL ROUNDUP : Savanna Scores in Bottom of Eighth to Beat Valencia

The pressure had burdened both teams. Win, and it meant a trip to the softball playoffs. Lose, and it meant preparation for summer vacation. Both knew what was at stake.

But in the end, Savanna saved itself the embarrassment of falling from first place to oblivion in a span of three games.

The Rebels scored with one out in the bottom of the eighth inning, stopping a two-game losing streak and salvaging a trip to the Southern Section Division III playoffs with a 1-0 Orange League victory over Valencia Thursday.

It gives Savanna third place and an automatic berth for the playoffs. Had the Rebels (16-7, 6-4 in league) lost, Valencia (10-14-1, 5-5) would have gone to the playoffs for the first time since the Michele Granger Era, 1988.

Savanna’s Chrissy Vega led off the bottom of the eighth with an infield single. Vega stole second, and on the next pitch, April Olson’s sacrifice bunt moved Vega to third.

Facing a drawn-in infield, Sandra Mulder hit the first pitch past pitcher Aubrey Zamora (8-8) and beyond the grasp of diving second baseman Jennifer Routledge. That was the game-winner.

“I was nervous,” said Mulder, a .354 batter who drove in her seventh run of the year. “I felt all the pressure on me. Since I’m the third batter, I felt I had to get the run in.”