Huntington Beach softball ousted in playoff rematch with Murrieta Mesa
Huntington Beach saw its season come to an end in the quarterfinals again, once more against the same team it faced this time last year.
The game went off script for Huntington Beach right from the start, Murrieta Mesa pushing two runs across in the first and second innings. It would be all the Rams needed on a day the Oilers’ bats fell silent.
Murrieta Mesa’s Lilly Hauser had a dozen strikeouts in a one-hit shutout, as Huntington Beach fell 12-0 at home in its quarterfinals exit from the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs.
Hauser also drove in five runs on the afternoon. She had a two-out, two-run single in the second inning to double the Rams’ advantage to 4-0. Hauser added a three-run homer that settled on top of the batting cage over the right-center field fence in the seventh.
“That felt really good,” Hauser said of her home run. “I’ve been off for a while. At the beginning of the year, I was hot. This year, ending, I wasn’t great. … I’m not good at hitting inside [pitches] usually, so it felt really great to turn on it.”
Southwestern League champion Murrieta Mesa (25-3) will host top-seeded Orange Lutheran (20-3) in its return to the semifinals on Saturday.
Third baseman Paige Bambarger, an Oregon State commit, also hit a towering home run that landed on the solar panel sunshade in the parking lot beyond left field in the first inning.
“With our lineup, we never count us out,” Murrieta Mesa coach Tony Romero said. “We’ve got the hitters, and we’ve got the experience. We’ve been here before. We know how to play from behind, we know how to play from ahead, we know how to play just tough, tough games, and with [Hauser] pitching, we’re going to be in every game.”
The sole opportunity for Huntington Beach to get back in the game came in the fifth inning. After Zariah Billinger was hit by a pitch, Preslee Brower and Cali Bennett worked walks to load the bases. Hauser put out the fire by retiring pinch hitter Willow Kellen, striking out the side for the second time in the contest.
“I love bases loaded,” Hauser said of navigating her toughest inning. “It’s my favorite thing because I like stress situations. It makes me focus in and get it done.”
Huntington Beach (18-8) finished in second place in the Sunset League this season, as Los Alamitos (20-6) ran the table to win the league championship.
“I just think it just was one of those games where we didn’t get any breaks early, and then it just got away at the end,” Huntington Beach coach Jeff Forsberg said.
Zoe Prystajko threw five innings, allowing four runs (two earned) on three hits. It marked the end of an era for the Oilers, who have experienced ample success with the Stanford-bound left-hander in the circle for the past three seasons.
Prystajko also provided the lone hit for Huntington Beach, a single to left in the sixth inning.
“I’ve been here 20 years, and there’s certain kids that have no room for error when they play,” Forsberg said. “They have to be perfect all the time because everybody expects them to do it all the time. I think she’s one of them. …
“She’s always going to get us through it, and when she doesn’t, then it’s like it’s a negative. It’s part of the game. That’s how I look at it. I just think it’s part of the game. We wouldn’t be playing in this game if it wasn’t for her.”
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