A pop-up to lead off the game, a sacrifice bunt to advance a pair of runners in the third, and a hit-by-pitch in the fifth.
Those were Mackenzie Boesel’s first three at-bats Tuesday.
When Orange Lutheran’s star shortstop finally got an opportunity to swing away in the latter stages of the contest, she capitalized on the situation.
Boesel smacked an inside-the-park grand slam in the sixth inning and drilled a two-run homer over the fence in the seventh, powering the Lancers to a 12-2 victory over Cypress in a CIF-SS Division 1 second-round game at Cypress High.
Second-seeded Orange Lutheran (28-3) will host Lakewood (26-4) in Thursday’s quarterfinals.
“You figure it’s a seven-inning game, we’re going to hit,” said Lancers coach Steve Miklos, whose team scored two runs in the first four innings. “And that’s what happened. … We’re just getting contributions throughout our lineup. We’re not dependent on anybody having to have a (big) game for us. That’s really the big difference for this team. We have enough bats if three of the girls go (hitless), we’re still OK.”
Eight starters finished with base hits for the Lancers, which racked up 14 hits total. Boesel, Ciara Briggs, Noelle Hee, Mya Rodriguez and Taylor Whitney each tallied two apiece.
“That’s what I love about our team,” Boesel added. “Anyone in our lineup can come through when we need them to, and that’s what they did today.”
After Briggs and Hee drove in a pair of runs in the fifth, Boesel opened the floodgates in the sixth, drilling a shot to the fence in right field. She hustled around the base paths for an inside-the-park slam.
She collected her fifth and six RBI of the game with a two-run shot in the seventh that put the exclamation mark on Orange Lutheran’s late-game surge.
“We just need to keep taking it one game at a time, stay within ourselves and keep doing what we’ve been doing,” Boesel said. “And that’s getting good pitching, playing good defense and coming through when we need to.”
Cypress finished 20-9.
Also in Division 1:
Mater Dei 2, Etiwanda 1: Maddison Flores’ RBI triple in the bottom of the sixth inning broke a 1-1 tie and proved to be the difference as the Monarchs (25-7) upset the top-seeded Eagles (29-3) at Thornton Park in Santa Ana. Gabby Sandoval tossed a complete-game three-hitter, limiting Etiwanda to a season-low one run. Mater Dei will host Great Oak of Temecula on Thursday.
Los Alamitos 7, Chino 2: The Griffins (25-2) broke a 2-2 tie by scoring the last five runs of the contest as junior pitcher Ryan Denhart shut out the Cowgirls from the last four innings. Los Alamitos will host Vista Murrieta in the quarterfinals.
Valencia 6, Pacifica 0: Shea O’Leary struck out 10 and pitched a four-hitter as the Vikings knocked out the Mariners (20-6).
In Division 2:
Mission Viejo 6, Riverside Poly 1: Camryn Ybarra belted her third and fourth home runs of the postseason, and Terra McGowan and Olivia Viggiano finished with three hits apiece to lead the Diablos (24-4). Pitcher Kyra Snyder did not allow a run after the first inning. Mission Viejo will be at Yucaipa (21-3) on Thursday. Mission Viejo lost to the Thunderbirds, 1-0, in last season’s Division 2 championship game.
La Habra 8, Redlands East Valley 4: Janelle Rodriguez belted a two-run home run and an RBI double to lead the Highlanders into the quarterfinals. La Habra (28-1) will host Rio Mesa on Thursday.
Contact the writer: kconnolly@ocregister.com