MISSION VIEJO – Great pitching, solid offense, along with a few errors and miscues by Moorpark, was all top-seeded Mission Viejo’s softball team needed to advance to the CIF-SS Division 2 championship game.
The Diablos made it a long afternoon for the Musketeers, who made three errors in the first two innings and managed just two hits, in a 8-0 defeat Tuesday in a semifinal game at Mission Viejo High.
Mission Viejo (25-1) will take on No. 2 seed Chino, which ousted Chino Hills, 3-2, Tuesday in the other semifinal. It will be the Diablos’ first trip to a CIF championship game in 26 years.
“I firmly believe the team that puts the ball in play the most has the best chance of winning,” said Diablos coach Troy Ybarra. “A boot here, bad hop there … those things happen.”
They happened to Moorpark (27-4) and Mission Viejo seized control early. The Diablos scored three runs — all unearned — in the first two innings and Moorpark never recovered as Mission Viejo poured it on.
Not that Mission Viejo needed more than a run the way southpaw ace Taylor McQuillin has been pitching. The Arizona-bound junior recorded her fourth consecutive shutout of the postseason while striking out 12.
In the team’s four playoff games, McQuillin has allowed just six hits and zero runs in 31 innings.
“I can’t ask for more than what she’s been doing,” said Ybarra.
McQuillin added: “The farther we go in CIF, the stronger I feel. I know I have a great defense and offense behind me. We have a great bunch of athletes on this team.”
Oregon State-bound Alysha Everett drove in Alyssa Palomino for the game’s first run with a single to right field in the first. Palomino reached base when her infield popup was misplayed by Moorpark.
A two-out error on a ground ball by Palomino allowed freshman Kyra Snyder to score the Diablos’ first run of the second. Palomino advanced to second on the play, and two pitches later stole third and scored when the throw from catcher Alexa Curt was mishandled.
“When you come against a good-hitting team, you got to make the plays behind your pitcher,” said Moorpark coach Meaghan Stotts. “But give Mission Viejo all the credit. They were ready to play.”
The five-time defending South Coast League champion Diablos began to pull away in the fourth as they tallied three runs – two coming on a mammoth home run by Palomino, her 17th of the season — to take a 6-0 lead.
Palomino’s home run total for the season is one shy of the Orange County record of 18 she set last season.
Camryn Ybarra added the final run of the inning on a grounder up the middle, scoring her sister Shianne. Mission Viejo added single runs in the fifth and sixth on a RBI double by Kayleen Shafer and a RBI groundout by Sara Higa.
The Diablos totaled 11 hits, two each by Shafer, Shianne and Camryn Ybarra.
“(Mission Viejo) has the best lineup, 1-9, we’ve faced all year,” said Stotts.
The Diablos last played a CIF title game in 1989 when they lost to Covina, 2-0, in a Division 3A final.
“It’s been a long time,” said Ybarra.
The date and time of the championship game will be announced today. Chino will be seeking its third consecutive section title.
Contact the writer: magarcia@ocregister.com
