May Leads Santiago in Final

Kamerin May did Saturday night what no freshman had done since 1996. She pitched her team to a Southern Section Division I softball title.

May pitched a three-hitter and also had a single, double and drove in three runs in Corona Santiago’s 5-1 victory over Garden Grove Pacifica at Barber Park in Irvine.

Not since Marissa Young pitched Santa Ana Mater Dei to a 3-1 victory over Camarillo had a freshman played such a dominant role in the pitcher’s circle in a final. And May did it in style, striking out 13 against a team with a .377 batting average.

It is the second title in three seasons for Santiago (26-5), which won the Division II championship in 2004 behind pitcher Taryne Mowatt, now at Arizona.

It is the third title overall for Santiago, whose victory denied Pacifica (28-6) its fifth championship.

Santiago has the potential to win it again next season. The Sharks started only three seniors, including Randi Baldwin, who singled and scored twice, and Kelli Hawkins and Kadie Baldwin, who each singled and scored.

Santiago lost three of its last five regular-season games, including its last two. The Sharks were ranked No. 15 in the Southland by The Times, and Pacifica was No 8. Unseeded in the playoffs, the teams are currently ranked fifth and second in the state by Cal-Hi Sports.

May was tough when it counted most. She retired the first 13 batters she faced before allowing a walk and Andrea Harrison’s RBI double. That was the only run of the inning because Harrison, a junior who has committed to UCLA, ran through a stop sign at third base on Stephanie Ochoa’s single to left field and was thrown out at the plate by Randie Baldwin. May got a strikeout to end the inning.

Pacifica threatened in the sixth inning when a walk, single and error loaded the bases, but May struck out Christine Hiner, a .405 hitter with four home runs and 19 runs batted in.

“I was so happy,” said May, one of four freshmen in the Sharks’ starting lineup, and the sole pitcher since junior Kelsey Bruder quit the team in midseason. “She’s a really good hitter.”

But May was an even better pitcher.

“We haven’t seen anyone throw [a rise pitch] this year as effective as hers,” said Ken Orpitelli, the first-year coach for Pacifica, which started four sophomores and five juniors. “She showed very good poise. Even when we started to get on her, she showed good presence.”

May retired the side in order in the seventh inning, striking out the last two batters.