Unranked Irvine Tops No. 7 Laguna Hills, 6-5

Kari Singley worked out of a one-out, bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the seventh inning to help Irvine to a 6-5 victory over Laguna Hills in the final of the Saddleback Valley softball tournament Thursday at Alicia Park in Mission Viejo.

After Singley intentionally loaded the bases with one out--not wanting to pitch to Laguna Hills cleanup hitter Katie Oliver--she struck out the next two batters to end the game. However, it wasn’t easy, as Singley needed 13 pitches to retire Julie Davison and Erica Corby.

“We were going to throw to [Oliver], but after the first pitch we decided to put her on,” Irvine Coach Lisa Baker said. “I was worried. But, I worry through all seven innings.”

Laguna Hills had to come from behind twice in the game, but was unable to do it a third time in the final inning.

Trailing, 3-1, going to the top of the fourth, Irvine got two runs to tie it when Singley scored on a ground out to second by Haley Stokols and Jessyca Thompson scored on a wild pitch. In the next inning, Irvine took a 5-3 lead on a two-run home run by freshman Kendra Singley.

But the Hawks tied it again in the bottom of the fifth on a two-run single by Oliver.

In the sixth, Thompson scored the go-ahead run for Irvine on a bloop single to left by Heather Walker.

Unranked Irvine (6-2) defeated two of the county’s top 10 teams in the tournament, upsetting No. 6 Marina, 6-4, in the semifinals and the seventh-ranked Hawks (8-3).

“This is a big confidence builder for us,” Baker said. “But I have a team with a lot of heart. Even when we’re down, they don’t give up.”