Before Friday night’s 1-0 loss to Yucaipa in the CIF-SS Division 2 championship game, Mission Viejo had not been shut out since March of 2012 when it went scoreless in a game against Norco High, that year’s eventual national champion.
“I would’ve never thought we would have been shut out,” Diablos coach Troy Ybarra said after Friday night’s game. “I wouldn’t think that one run would beat us.”
Mission Viejo went 111 straight games without being shutout. That streak ended in last weekend’s finale when the Diablos mustered just six hits and stranded seven runners.
As it turned out, an inability to score runs plagued all three of the county’s CIF finalists on championship weekend.
Savanna was denied its first CIF title after scoring a season-low two runs against Paraclete High. And despite coming into the afternoon with a 15-game winning streak, Garden Grove was shut out for the first time since early April when it lost to No. 5 El Modena.
Orange County vs. Inland Empire
The O.C. vs. I.E. All-Star Game is Wednesday at 6 p.m. at the Big League Dreams complex in Chino Hills.
Mission Viejo and Canyon High had the most players selected to compete in what is considered the area’s marquee postseason showcase.
Taylor McQuillin, Alyssa Palomino and Kayleen Shafer were the three Diablo seniors invited to play Wednesday evening. Palomino is the only player unable to attend because of USA Junior National Team obligations in Oklahoma City. The Comanches’ three selections – Hailey Hilburn, Paulina Anasis and Brianna Betschel – will all be in attendance.
San Clemente was the only other school that garnered multiple invitations, as Kelsey Horton and Lauren Kane will be Sea View League’s lone representatives.
Katya Duvall (Los Alamitos), Morganne Flores (Mater Dei), Amanda Beltran (Villa Park), Faith Canfield (Pacifica), Kolby Romaine (Rosary), Shay Knighten (Sunny Hills), Ali Wester (Edison) and Ally Dickman (Capistrano Valley) round out the remainder of the local roster.
Orange County’s all-stars topped Riverside County, 7-1, a season ago. Dan Hay (Canyon), Mark Campbell (Pacifica), Tia Meza (Mater Dei) and Doug Sletvett (Canyon) will coach the O.C. squad this year.
O.C. Coaches All-Star Game
The 16th Annual O.C. Coaches All-Star games will be held today at Bill Barber Park, with the first game beginning at 4 p.m. and the second game scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
Former Aliso Niguel softball coach, Joe Miller – who died of a heart attack last November – will be one of six inductees names to the Ryan Lemmon Foundation’s Hall of Fame. Jim Daugherty (El Toro), Suzy Brazney (Marina), Marcy Crouch (Marina), Michelle Granger (Valencia), Lovie Jung (Fountain Valley) will also be inducted on Tuesday night.
Contact the writer: kconnolly@ocregister.com
