Laguna Hills Uses Defense to Shut Down Aliso Niguel

The overall records weren’t very good because both teams played tough preleague schedules, but Laguna Hills’ visit to Aliso Niguel on Tuesday represented a huge opener in the Pacific Coast League softball race.

Laguna Hills, five-time defending league champion, defeated the team it expected to be its biggest challenge, 6-1, largely because of defense, a few key hits and an opponent that squandered its opportunities.

Aliso Niguel (4-11) had the lead runner on second with none out in the first two innings, and one out in the third and fifth innings.

“We had our opportunities,” Aliso Niguel Coach Kari Boothroyd said. “We’ve been working on that in the preseason, attacking the ball when someone is in scoring position. I thought today that would happen for us.”

It happened for Laguna Hills (5-6-2, 1-0), instead.

“The preseason definitely helped us--the pitching we had faced was some of the top pitching around,” Laguna Hills senior catcher Sumer McMahon said. “We felt comfortable swinging away today.”

The Hawks benefited from nine hits, six walks and three errors.

Sophomore Elizabeth Brown had two hits and scored two runs for Laguna Hills, including a leadoff home run in the fifth inning to make it 3-0.

Laguna Hills took a first-inning lead on a two-out rally without a hit: McMahon scored, sliding safely on a wild pitch following two passed balls. The Hawks made it 2-0 in the fourth inning after a walk, a throwing error on a dandy two-strike bunt by No. 9 hitter Melissa Gilbert, and Jenna Ramesh’s run-scoring single.

“I think my team came out playing exactly how we prepared, playing tough defense and attacking the ball,” Boothroyd said. “And then we fell back into our old patterns.”

A pattern that included two sixth-inning errors that led to three Laguna Hills runs, highlighted by Ramesh’s leadoff triple and Kelly Anderson’s RBI single.

Losing pitcher Candice Heath (2-8) had three of Aliso Niguel’s six hits.