Newport Harbor softball closes out CdM in chaotic contest
When it comes to crosstown rivalry games, there is no shortage of catch phrases.
The call to throw out the records in such a contest is one, and it was appropriate with the Newport Beach softball programs scrapping for a rare win in their respective seasons.
Newport Harbor held on for a 20-17 win over host Corona del Mar on Tuesday in a most unorthodox but exciting Battle of the Bay game.
“It was fun to play in a competitive game,” Newport Harbor coach Patrick Murphy said. “This league has been quite a gauntlet so far, so it was fun to play in a game like this, actually get your heart racing.”
Sienna Schneider led off the game with a single, stole second base, and came home on a hit by Maia Helmar. Alexis Vanhorn’s sacrifice-fly made it 2-0 for Newport Harbor (2-10, 1-4 in the Sunset League).
Emily Hands, Alex Boserup and Julia Mork authored hits in succession in the bottom half of the first inning to tie the score for CdM (1-9, 0-6).
The Sea Kings’ pitching would take a turn for the wild from there. Ashley Jones was able to get out of a bases-loaded jam with just one run in the second inning, but three CdM arms combined to issue 12 walks and hit a batter in an 11-run third inning that spotted the Sailors a 14-2 lead.
Vanhorn, a center fielder who drove in a run in each of her first five plate appearances, said the big inning was a “learning moment” in which the Sailors exercised patience and trusted their teammates to bring home base runners.
“I feel like we came into this game actually ready to take charge and show everyone what we have and show people that we can win games,” Vanhorn said. “I feel like that’s what our team proved today. We used literally everyone on the team. It’s a team sport. Everyone proved their worth here.”
Corona del Mar swung its way back into the game, twice avoiding mercy-rule endings with three-run innings in the fifth and sixth. Lilly Borland’s single extended the game in the fifth, and Niki Darnall’s two-run single made it 20-11.
Even after retiring the Sailors in order in the top of the seventh, the deficit seemed insurmountable, but the Sea Kings rallied.
Pinch hitter Lily Eastmond kept the game going with a two-run single to right, just beating the throw to first. After Alexa Rokos reached on the third error of the inning, CdM brought the tying run to the plate, but Mackenzie Kish flew out to Vanhorn to end it.
“We weren’t quitting, so that’s what makes you feel good,” CdM coach Dennis Wilbanks said. “There’s no quit in this group. They can be aloof sometimes, like in practice and stuff, but that’s one thing they don’t have. They’ll keep battling and battling until that last out.”
Mork had a game-high four hits for CdM. Boserup had three hits, while Abby Schalow, Rokos, Kish, Hands and Darnall each had two hits.
Ava Nolan paced Newport Harbor with three hits, including what proved to be a key two-run double in the sixth.
“It was a good moment,” Nolan said. “I managed to come through in the end, so that was good.”
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