Fullerton Softball Tightens Hold on 1st

Compared to Cypress, Fullerton really didn’t bring that much into the softball showdown for first place in the Orange Empire Conference Wednesday.

Cypress had the impressive record, seven tournament titles and a school-record 27-game winning streak.

But the Hornets won, 4-1, and took a firm grasp on the biggest prize of the regular season, the conference title.

Fullerton (32-10, 18-1) has a one-game lead over Cypress (57-4, 17-2) with two left, but both are expected to be seeded in the top four and host Southern California playoff games May 9-10. Fullerton ends the regular season with games at Riverside Friday and at Orange Coast Monday.

Still, Coach Lisa Bassi showed no sign of being ready to celebrate.

“We take every team in our conference seriously,” Bassi said. “Every game is a big game for us . . . We’ve won the battle, but we’ve yet to win the war.”

Fullerton took control right away, scoring three runs in the first inning, then the Hornets relied on Kristy Bonwell, who pitched a five-hitter and was in trouble only once.

Cypress scored a run, and had two on in the fifth when Bonwell got Autumn Gwinner, the second-place hitter, to fly to shallow right field. Michele Bailon then flew out to shortstop Nikia Owens to end the inning.

Fullerton’s first inning started when Chris Puccio lined a single to left against Jamie Wilkes (31-3).

Puccio stole second and went to third on Deborah Hargrave’s infield single. Hargrave took second after an attempted pickoff at third.

Cypress Coach Brad Pickler ordered Lynette Velazquez intentionally walked, but Puccio scored when Wilkes was called for an illegal pitch because Cypress didn’t have nine players on the field. The umpire ruled that third baseman Bailon stepped outside the third-base line before the ball was pitched.

Pickler protested and the umpires met but the call stood.

Kelly Wilkerson bunted in the second run and Natasha Sisco singled up the middle to drive in the third run.

Wilkerson added an RBI single in the third after Velazquez singled and Cara Hatt doubled.

Sandra Mulder doubled with one out in the fifth and scored on Melissa Beck’s single. Beck finished with two hits.

In other conference games:

Orange Coast 7, Riverside 5--Orange Coast (6-20, 3-16) scored six times in the bottom of the sixth to rally from a 5-1 deficit against the visiting Tigers (23-14, 9-10), snapping a six-game losing streak in the process. The Pirates had five of their seven hits in the sixth, including RBI singles by Molly Sinclair, Nicola Woody, Stephanie Horrick, and Jennifer Long.

Rancho Santiago 7, Irvine Valley 2--Selena Aquino was two for three with two runs scored and Jessica Cisneros was two for two with two RBIs and a run for Rancho Santiago (28-17, 13-6). Tami Harris was two for three with two runs scored for Irvine Valley (12-22, 3-15).