CHINO HILLS – Hailey Hilburn was cruising into the seventh inning with a 5-1 lead and no signs of trouble in a CIF-SS Division 1 second-round softball playoff game Tuesday.
Chino Hills then loaded the bases and had the potential tying run at the plate with no outs. The Huskies got single runs on a sacrifice fly and single.
But Hilburn was able to coax ground ball outs from Brittney Garcia and Savanna Carr to end the drama and give the Comanches a 5-3 victory.
The Comanches (22-7) will host Los Alamitos in the quarterfinals Thursday.
Hilburn picked up her 22nd win of the year, allowing one earned run on seven hits. She struck out six.
“Hailey pitched as well as I’ve ever seen her,” Canyon coach Dan Hay said. “We played six great innings of softball and our defense let her down a little in the seventh and we didn’t take advantage of opportunities on offense.”
Rachel DeHart led the Canyon offense, going 3 for 5 with two RBI. Paulina Anasis singled, walked and scored twice, and Jillian Jenkin singled, walked three times and scored twice.
Hilburn kept Tannon Snow quiet, which was no small feat,
Snow, a University of Washington commit, set state records with 30 home runs this season and she become the state’s all-time home run leader with 60. But Hiburn got her to fly out three times and then walked her intentionally in the seventh with first base open and two outs.
“I focus a lot on my breathing and keeping my heart rate low and it’s helped a lot in not feeling the pressure in front of me,” Hillburn said. “I wanted to be the person with the ball in my hand at the end of the game, because I knew I could get the job done.”
Brianna Betschel reached based three times from the leadoff spot (single, double, walk) and drove in a run for Canyon.
Carr got the loss for Chino Hills after allowing five runs on 10 hits and walking 10.
Taylon Snow went 3 for 4 with a stolen bases and an RBI for the Huskies.
