IRVINE – Some Orange Lutheran fans shouted advice to Ciara Briggs during her eighth-inning at-bat Saturday against Marina, urging her to drive the ball toward a huge gap in right-center field.
A few pitches later, Briggs did exactly that. The lefty pulled a triple through the gap and knocked in what proved to be the winning run.
“I didn’t hear (the fans),” Briggs, an LSU signee, said with a laugh. “I heard one the coaches saying wait, so I figured it was a changeup. I just kept my hands back until it was there.”
The No. 4 Lancers (11-2) added another run in the eighth and beat Marina, 2-0, in pool play of the Alan Dugard Woodbridge Softball Classic at Barber Park.
Maddy Dwyer (10-1, 0.48 ERA) went the distance and allowed no runs on two hits and two walks while striking out 10. The Stanford signee struck out four consecutive batters from the third to the fourth and retired 11 straight at one point.
“Maddy was just hitting her spots,” Lancers coach Steve Miklos said. “All her pitches were working. Her screwball, curveball, riseball, changeup were all (working). She was mixing them in nicely.”
Briggs’ triple spoiled a sparkling outing by Marina starter Amber Baldwin, who nearly matched Dwyer pitch-for-pitch through seven. She threw eight innings with two runs allowed on six hits, two walks and three strikeouts.
“She pitched an absolute incredible game,” Marina coach Mandee Farish said. “Our pitching has been our downfall lately, and so we’ve worked really hard this past week and I couldn’t be more proud of her.”
The Vikings (5-6) almost won in the bottom of the seventh. Shayla Thomas drew a two-out walk and Ryan King followed with a single, but Dwyer induced Justine Coonis to ground out.
Orange Lutheran and Marina beat Irvine, the third team in their pool, earlier Saturday.
Both will play Monday, with Orange Lutheran in the Gold Bracket quarterfinals and Marina in the Silver Bracket quarterfinals.
