When she trotted out of the dugout, Taylor McQuillin was met with a roar she’d never heard before.
The Mission Viejo faithful had come out in bunches, packing Deanna Manning Stadium for the CIF-SS Division 2 softball championship game against Chino.
“I’ve personally never played in front of that many people before,” McQuillin recalled. “I wanted to excel because I didn’t want to be the person that – when everyone came to our game – ended up being responsible for the loss.
“I didn’t want to hear the whole, ‘Oh, you guys really aren’t that good.’”
Whether they had seen her pitch before or not, those in the stadium that night likely didn’t leave without saying “wow” more than once.
From the season opener in early March to the 1-0 victory in the Division 2 championship game last week, McQuillin consistently proved to be the most dominant pitcher in Orange County.
She put forth her most extraordinary performance in the season finale against the two-time defending CIF champs. McQuillin struck out 17, faced the minimum number of batters in nine innings of work and not only captured a CIF championship, but also earned the Register’s Pitcher of the Year award.
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“It’s an amazing experience to be in a championship game like that, let alone be playing against one of the top pitchers in the country (Chino’s Miranda Viramontes),” McQuillin said. “The way our team bonded, what we did and how we got it done, it’s just something that not very many people can say they’ve ever achieved.”
No team in Mission Viejo history could say that because the Diablos’ famed athletic program had never won a softball title prior to this season.
The Diablos finished with a 26-1 overall record and ranked No. 1 in the nation by MaxPreps.
McQuillin, who has committed to Arizona and is a finalist for MaxPrep’s national player of the year, led the county with 25 wins and 316 strikeouts. She threw two perfect games, two no-hitters and five one-hitters.
In every game she played in, McQuillin’s punch outs outnumbered the hits she allowed.
“She’s improved every season since her freshman year,” said Diablos coach Troy Ybarra. “I had somebody ask me recently, ‘Can she improve next year?’ I’ll take what she did this year again next year. She’s just had a full heart, was motivated and on fire.”
McQuillin finished the season with 16 straight games of at least 10 strikeouts. In her five playoff appearances, she struck out 72 batters and scattered only seven hits for a gaudy 10-to-1 strikeouts-to-hits ratio.
In Mission Viejo’s first CIF finals appearance in 25 years, the junior allowed a base hit to the leadoff hitter, but struck out the No. 2 batter before forcing a double play to get out of the inning. She went on to face the minimum number of batters (27) in nine innings, and she outlasted Viramontes in a thrilling 1-0 battle.
“The championship game, the adrenaline is just pumping through your body more than a normal league game or everyday game,” McQuillin said. “You come out here and do what you need to do to get the job done and get the win for your team.”
Contact the writer: kconnolly@ocregister.com
