Dickson, El Modena Run Past Santa Margarita

Norrelle Dickson stole two bases, scored three runs and handed out high fives as host El Modena won its Southern Section Division III softball quarterfinal Friday with a 3-1 victory over Santa Margarita.

Dickson, one of six sophomores in the starting lineup, scored on Nicole Bartholomew’s wild pitch in the first inning, Morgan Scott’s single in the third, and Ashley Van Boxmeer’s bases-loaded walk in the fifth.

El Modena (20-10-1), which last reached the quarterfinals in 1993, advanced to the semifinals for the first time in school history. It plays at Sonora on Tuesday.

“We started [the season] slow, came together, and now we’re shocking everybody,” Dickson said. “We’re shocking ourselves.”

The Vanguards certainly shocked their guests. Santa Margarita (21-8) outhit El Modena, 10-5, but left 10 runners on base. The Eagles rallied with two outs in the seventh inning against El Modena pitcher Lindsay Klein (18-10). Garland Cooper doubled and scored on Kim May’s single, but pinch-runner Jamie Moore was thrown out at third base by right fielder Scott on Pam Sulick’s single.

But Klein was tough when she needed to be, and El Modena didn’t make an error behind her.

“This is amazing,” Dickson said of El Modena’s run, which includes a victory over third-seeded Hacienda Heights Wilson. “Our goal was to get to the second round, but we keep changing our goals one game at a time.”

Kennedy, the fourth-seeded team in Division III, won a coin flip Friday, giving it home-field advantage at Arnold Park against top-seeded Whittier La Serna in the semifinals Tuesday.

Orange Lutheran, seeded fourth in Division V, also won a coin flip and will host top-seeded Sun Valley Village Christian.

In Division I, Esperanza won its coin flip and will host another unseeded team, Capistrano Valley.

In Division II, Loara, which upset top-seeded Foothill in nine innings, 2-1, to reach the semifinals, will play at Whittier California and Canyon will host Thousand Oaks.

Rancho Alamitos will play its Division IV semifinal at San Dimas.

Championship games are scheduled Friday and next Saturday at Barber Park in Irvine.