With Barrett Back, Mustangs Advance

The inflamed disc in Nicole Barrett’s back might have cost Trabuco Hills an outright league title, but there was no way it was going to keep the Mustangs from their first playoff victory since 1987.

Barrett returned to the lineup Wednesday and pitched a two-hitter, and the Mustangs scored a run in the bottom of the seventh to post a 2-1 victory over Woodbridge in a Southern Section Division II wild-card playoff game.

Barrett (10-9), who missed Trabuco Hills’ last four South Coast League games, threw 91 pitches, about half after her back started flaring up. But the sophomore, staked to a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning, wasn’t about to let the moment slip away.

Besides, she was pitching a no-hitter, which she carried into the seventh inning.

“I didn’t think I’d be able to go today,” said Barrett, who walked two and struck out two. “That one run took a lot of stress off me.”

The first run kept her going, but after a pair of errors contributed to Woodbridge’s tying run in the seventh, it was a run in the bottom of the inning that kept the Mustangs (14-14) alive in the playoffs. They play Kennedy (20-5) in a first-round game Friday at Cypress Arnold Park.

Trabuco Hills loaded the bases on Woodbridge freshman Brittany Crouch with none out, on an error by third baseman Kayla Creamer, Jacqui DeLeon’s bad-hop single and another error when first baseman Breanne Cooley pulled her foot off the base.

Crouch got a strikeout, but Melissa Fox grounded to the hole at shortstop, and Ashley Griffiths barely scored ahead of Brittany Ziegler’s throw to the plate on what would have been a force out. The celebration began.

Trabuco Hills had taken the lead in the fourth inning when Courtney Pasqualetto walked and came around on singles by Griffiths and DeLeon.

That looked like enough offensive support for Barrett. It wasn’t. Brianna Bohls broke up the no-hitter with a single to center field with one out in the seventh inning. After an error by second baseman Genvielle DeCicco and Maritza Padilla’s infield single, Crouch tied the score with a grounder, scoring Bohls.

Woodbridge (19-13), third in the Sea View League, had beaten Trabuco Hills twice during the regular season.

After losing two of the four games Barrett missed, Trabuco Hills and San Clemente shared the South Coast League title, the Mustangs’ first since 1991. San Clemente had the tiebreaker advantage, so the Mustangs were stuck as the league’s second-place entry.

“I think we can surprise a lot of people,” DeLeon said. “We may have done that today.”

In the other Division IV wild-card game:

Ocean View 4, Costa Mesa 1--Crystina Cruz pitched a seven-hitter with eight strikeouts, had two singles and drove in a run for host Ocean View (9-17).

Tied at 1-1 in the third, the Seahawks got a bases-loaded walk to force in the eventual winning run and a run-scoring single by Nikki Barton.

Carly Hatcher had a run-scoring double in the first for the Seahawks, who play at North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake Friday in a first-round game.

In a Division II wild-card game:

Chino Don Lugo 4, Sunny Hills 0--Visiting Sunny Hills (13-12), was eliminated as Don Lugo pitcher Dena DuBois pitched a two-hitter. Heather Thomas had a triple and two RBIs for the Conquistadores (18-7).

Shannon Deutschmann (9-11), gave up eight hits and took the loss for the Lancers.