Mustangs walk off winners

Costa Mesa High softball seniors Jasmine Herrera and Anessa Farldow both hit their first career over-the-fence home runs Wednesday afternoon.

The fact that the bombs came against Estancia made it even sweeter for Herrera and Farldow, both team captains.

In the end, though, it was a surging freshman cleanup hitter who made the Mustangs walk-off winners in the fifth-place game of the Costa Mesa Tournament.

Freshman Katie Belmontes’ single to right in the bottom of the seventh scored Brenna Alvis and Herrera, as Costa Mesa rallied for a wild 16-15 victory over Estancia at the Mustangs’ field.

The game was originally scheduled for Saturday, as both teams finished third in their pools of the tournament. But the game at TeWinkle Field was rained out and rescheduled.

Fans in attendance Wednesday saw a back-and-forth affair with several switches in momentum.

“It means a lot, to start off with a win versus Estancia in preseason,” Farldow said. “That makes us want to come out even stronger when we play [them in] league.”

The teams are plenty familiar. Last year they split their two league meetings before Estancia won a play-in game for third place in the Orange Coast League and a berth into the CIF Southern Section Division 5 playoffs.

The Eagles (3-5) led Wednesday’s contest until the bottom of the fifth, when Costa Mesa (4-1) erupted for seven runs to take an 11-6 lead. Belmontes and Farldow had the big blows, with back-to-back home runs.

Belmontes’ homer, a two-run shot to right, also scored Alvis and gave the Mustangs a 7-6 advantage. It was the freshman phenom’s fourth home run in five games, and second of the over-the-fence variety.

Farldow followed with a solo shot to center.

“I told Katie, ‘Give me a base hit,’ and she gave me a home run,” Farldow said. “She told me, ‘Give me a base hit,’ and I gave her a home run.”

But down four runs, Estancia rallied for eight runs of its own in the top of the sixth to grab the lead again, 14-11. The Eagles used a two-run single by Carol Fuentes and an RBI single by Grecia Henriquez to pull within a run, then tied the score on Emily Kubisty’s hit. Maya Van Den Heever, who was two for four with a double and three RBIs on the day, walked with one out to load the bases.

An out later, Eagles senior shortstop Felicia Rios delivered. Her single to left took a bad bounce past the outfielder. The hit cleared the bases, putting the Eagles back up by three runs. Rios finished the game two for three with two walks and four RBIs.

Costa Mesa got back within a run on a two-run homer by Herrera in the bottom of the frame. After Estancia’s Kalena Shepherd was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the top of the seventh to force in a run, Mesa still trailed, 15-13.

But Mesa Coach Heather Orduna never saw quit in her team.

“When our pitching fell apart a little bit today, our defense was there and our offense was there,” Orduna said. “Our girls really fought for each other. We weren’t worried about our personal mistakes or our personal celebrations. They were in it for each other, and they were able to put it together for seven strong innings.”

Paige Fisher led off the bottom of the seventh with a walk for the Mustangs. After Alvis singled to center, her third hit of the afternoon, Herrera singled to left to score Fisher and again bring the Mustangs within a run. The runners went to second and third on the throw home.

Belmontes, an aggressive hitter, swung at the first pitch from Estancia’s Brittany Walker as usual. This time she fouled it off.

“For a moment, I thought I was going to get walked,” Belmontes said. “She threw it inside, and I didn’t expect it.”

The second pitch was over the outside part of the plate, and Belmontes roped it to right to allow the Mustangs to walk off.

Fisher, who pitched 1 2/3 innings in relief of freshman Haley Wolf, got the win for Costa Mesa. No. 9 hitter Valerie Castro was three for five, while Kintak Keju and Kanani Asuega each had a pair of hits. Senior co-captain Haylee Jack also had a pinch-hit single for the winners.

Alvis made two standout plays at shortstop, snagging a low liner in the top of the first to create a double play. In the fifth, she grabbed a ball that went off the second baseman’s glove and threw out the runner.

Estancia Coach Carrie Lester also said she was proud of her team, which never gave up.

“We’re coming right along,” Lester said. “It’s two-and-a-half weeks into the season, and we have a lot of girls who play other sports. So we haven’t played as a team with everyone there, except for the last three weeks. We’ve got to get more of a team focus, really.”

The teams will play twice in league, at Costa Mesa on April 19 and at Estancia on May 5.

After Wednesday’s game, the Mustangs like their chances, which hasn’t always been the case. Prior to last year’s second league game they had lost 10 straight games to Estancia, including seven straight in league.

But, with its 4-1 record, Costa Mesa is now off to its best start in Orduna’s four years at the helm. Just two years ago, the Mustangs finished 3-17.

“It’s everything,” Herrera said. “I told the girls before the game started that we needed to get this win, because if we get this win we’ve got them in league. That’s what we did, so I’m looking forward [to] league.”

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Costa Mesa Tournament

Fifth-place game

Costa Mesa 16, Estancia 15

SCORE BY INNINGS

Est 300 308 1 — 15 13 5

CM 200 272 3 — 16 19 2

Walker, Kubisty (6), Walker (7) and Shepherd; Wolf, Fisher (6) and Farldow. W – Fisher. L – Walker. 2B – Henriquez (Est), M. Van Den Heever (Est), Morales (Est), Kubisty (Est), Keju (CM). HR – Belmontes (CM), Farldow (CM), Herrera (CM).