ANAHEIM – The only person who had a sliver of doubt the ball was going to clear the fence was Lauren Espalin.
With two outs and the bases loaded in a tied game in the bottom of the seventh, Orange Lutheran’s junior catcher belted the first pitch she saw to dead center field, and her immediate reaction was to worry that she didn’t hit it far enough.
There was no need for the uncertainty.
Espalin’s drive easily made its way over the fence for a walk-off grand slam, and the second-ranked Lancers dugout erupted in celebration of their 6-2 win over No. 1 Mission Viejo in a semifinal game of the Michelle Carew Classic on Friday afternoon at Canyon High.
Orange Lutheran (22-3) will play No. 5 Huntington Beach in the championship game next Saturday at 4 p.m. at Canyon High.
“I’ve actually never hit (a grand slam) before, so it’s a really nice feeling,” Espalin said. “I was really excited for this game. Winning Carew is one of our goals this year, and especially playing a team like Mission, it’s good preparation for CIF (playoffs).”
The Lancers catcher went 2 for 4 in the game and drove in a total of five runs. Her RBI single in the first gave Orange Lutheran a 1-0 lead, and Dani Dawson doubled that with a solo homer to left field.
Mission Viejo (19-3) squared things up in the fourth inning with RBI singles from Terra McGowan and Bella Loya.
“We’d much rather play these games than blowouts,” Diablos coach Troy Ybarra said. “We got better today. We fought at the plate, we had four line drive outs and had 10 hits. How can I be mad at a team that got 10 hits against a kid (Maddy Dwyer) that’s going to Stanford?”
The score remained tied headed into the seventh, and a diving catch from Lancers shortstop Mackenzie Boesel erased any potential of a Diablos rally.
Orange Lutheran loaded the bases with one out in the bottom half of the seventh. After Noelle Hee popped out for the second out, Espalin crushed a fastball over the inner half of the plate.
“It’s been team wins for us,” said Lancers coach Steve Miklos, whose squad has reeled off 10 wins in a row. “Different people have been contributing for us, stepping up in different roles.
“We’ve matured quite a bit. We didn’t panic. The girls seemed pretty confident and they believed in themselves. It was a really good win for us.”
Contact the writer: kconnnolly@ocregister.com