Sophia Skerik, CdM softball hold on for win against La Quinta

Corona del Mar starter Sophia Skerik throws a strike during a nonleague game against La Quinta on Thursday in Newport Beach.

By Andrew TurnerStaff Writer

March 5, 2020 9:15 PM PT

The Corona del Mar High softball team has played three games, and already, the nerves of the Sea Kings have been put to the test twice.

Nine days earlier, the Sea Kings opened the season with an extra-innings loss at University.

A pressure situation presented itself once again on Thursday, and this time, CdM stood tall in the face of adversity.

Sophia Skerik escaped a jam in the seventh inning, propelling CdM to a 2-1 win over La Quinta in a nonleague game at home.

The Sea Kings starter had retired nine in a row when the game went to the seventh inning with CdM holding a 2-0 lead. The first two errors of the game by CdM were sandwiched around a base hit by Melissa Rodriguez, loading the bases with no outs for the Aztecs (7-2).

Karen Dam then slapped a sharp ground ball to first baseman Makena Tomlinson, who ran to the bag for the first out for the Sea Kings (2-1). A run scored on the play.

La Quinta had the tying run at third base and the go-ahead run at second base. Skerik then struck out first baseman Ally Guzman and pinch-hitter Aaliyah Iofi to end the threat and the game.

“It takes a minute,” Skerik said of keeping her composure when the trouble ensued. “You have to reset. Once they get going, you’ve got to dial back in, go back to basics. You have defense, so just trusting that they were behind me, knowing that if I threw my stuff, they would have my back.”

Skerik threw a complete game, allowing one run on four hits. She struck out eight and did not issue a walk. The senior has thrown every inning for the Sea Kings so far this season.

“She’s definitely ready,” Sea Kings coach Olga Walls said of Skerik becoming the team’s workhorse in the pitching circle. “She wants it. She’s here. She’s doing her job. She’s just been working really hard, and this summer, she worked really hard. You can tell. There is a big difference between this year and last year.”

The Sea Kings had, in fact, played good defense behind Skerik leading up to the seventh inning. On the first play of the game, shortstop Sydney Walls got her uniform dirty to catch a sinking line drive off the bat of Sofia Kroll.

Corona del Mar shortstop Sydney Walls catches a line drive during a nonleague game against La Quinta on Thursday.

Catcher Trasara Alexander also threw out a runner trying to steal at second base.

Skerik also left a runner at third base in the fourth inning after Ryann Nadeau had led off the inning with an opposite-field double to left.

The contributions of Skerik had no limitations, as she also drove in both runs for the Sea Kings. Her sacrifice fly in the fourth inning scored Tomlinson. She added a key insurance run with a one-out single to bring in Alexander in the sixth inning.

Fresh off of a two-home run performance in a blowout win against Garden Grove on Tuesday, Tomlinson went two for two with an intentional walk.

“She’s made some really good contact, has seen the ball really well,” Olga Walls said. “She is just adjusting to every pitcher that we face.”

Tomlinson believes that the Sea Kings are trending in the right direction because of player development.

“This team’s got a lot of potential,” Tomlinson said. “Obviously, we have the starters, but our bench is deep this year. It’s much deeper than we had last year because everyone is developing more individually.”

Jaidyn Gibson and Je Anne Hendrickx also had hits for the Sea Kings.

La Quinta coach Jeff Nadeau thought that it was a quality game for his team to get ready for a battle in Garden Grove League play.

“I’m really happy with the way the girls have been playing,” he said. “Believe it or not, we’ve been scoring a ton. The offense has been fantastic this year.

“Today, we came up against a really great pitcher. It was a fun game. It’s kind of the way softball should be. Instead of a mercy, I would much rather play a 2-1 game like that. Great energy, I thought, from both teams.”