SANTA ANA Mater Dei softball coach Tia Meza knows how a pitcher thinks, and she has passed along that information to her players.
“Pitchers want to get ahead early, and then they start to nibble around,” said Meza, who pitched the Monarchs to three straight Southern Section finals from 1998 to 2000. ”The first couple of pitches of every at-bat usually will be the best ones to hit, so we don’t mind taking an aggressive approach at the plate.”
That style of hitting paid off Friday, as the Monarchs scored six runs in the second inning and rolled by Great Oak of Temecula, 8-0, in a CIF-SS Division 1 quarterfinal game at Thornton Park.
Mater Dei (25-7) travels to Norco (26-5) for Tuesday’s semifinal game. Norco is the division’s defending champion and this year’s No. 4 seed.
Great Oak starter Autumn Storms cruised through the opening inning, getting Mater Dei to ground out three times. It was much different in the second, as the Monarchs loaded the bases with a single, an error and a walk against the Arkansas-bound pitcher.
Maddison Flores chopped a ball up the middle to bring in two runs and give Mater Dei the lead. Storms was an out away from getting out of the inning, but Kelli Godin and Neli Casares-Maher delivered back-to-back singles to extended the lead to 6-0 and chase Storms from the game.
All three of the two-run singles came on the first or second pitch of the at-bat.
“Autumn did what she usually does, keep the ball on the ground.” Great Oak coach Dave Mercado. “But this is a hard infield, and the balls bounced through. That was a tough inning to bounce back from.”
Great Oak (21-9) missed a chance to grab the lead in the second inning. The Wolfpack had a runner on third base with two outs, and Mercado brought freshman Mata Fa’apito off the bench to pinch hit. Mater Dei pitched carefully to Fa’apito, who walked on four pitches. Gabby Sandoval then struck out Natalie Bishop to end the inning.
“I would have liked to have seen Mata get her chance to swing the bat,” Mercado said. ”We just didn’t do enough offensively to win this game.”
Great Oak managed eight hits against Sandoval, three coming off the bat of senior third baseman Dylinn Stancil. But Sandoval scattered those hits throughout the game, and she made big pitches to finish innings.
Sandoval has allowed only one run in 21 playoff innings.
“She is not a big strikeout pitcher, but we play solid defense behind her,” Meza said. ”She hits her spots well, and she really trusts her teammates.”
Mater Dei started the season strong, but had some hiccups during Trinity League play. The Monarchs had to win a tiebreaker game against Rosary to get an automatic spot in the playoffs. Mater Dei has beaten league champions in the first three playoff rounds: Canyon, Etiwanda and Great Oak.
Norco is another challenge for the Monarchs.
“When you get to the semifinals, everyone is a great team and playing well now,” Meza said.
Contact the writer: ejohnson@pressenterprise.com
