What started April 6 officially comes to an end Saturday, 21 days after its original conclusion was scheduled.
The championship game of the Michelle Carew Classic will be played at Canyon High at 11 a.m. Saturday. Whatever matchup the rain-interrupted tournament produces, the wait will have been worth it.
Fifth-ranked Huntington Beach secured its spot in the finale nearly two weeks ago. The Oilers opponent will be determined Friday when No. 1 Mission Viejo and No. 2 Orange Lutheran square off in a Carew Classic semifinal at Canyon at 3:30 p.m.
Since the first day of the Carew Classic, the Diablos and Lancers have arguably been playing the best softball in the county. Both teams have produced 7-0 clips since April 6, and last week both clubs established themselves as the front-runner in their leagues.
Terra McGowan homered, Camryn Ybarra reached base in all four of her plate appearances and Kyra Snyder kept a Capistrano Valley’s lineup in check in the Diablos’ 9-2 South Coast League win on April 19. The Lancers topped rival Mater Dei, 9-1, on the same afternoon behind a four-RBI day from freshman center fielder Ciara Briggs, who has multiple base hits in three straight games.
Regardless of how it plays out, two top-5 matchups on back-to-back days is something you seldom get at this point in the season.
NEXT PITCHER UP
Part of what makes Los Alamitos such a successful program is its depth. This season’s varsity roster, for example, is comprised of 24 players, almost double the size of some local teams.
With two frontline starters in the rotation, Los Al was able to split innings between junior pitchers Ryan Denhart and Paige Austin through the first 16 games of the season. The Griffins went 15-1 over that stretch.
Unfortunately for the Griffins, a team with CIF-SS championship aspirations, Denhart and Austin both sustained season-ending injuries in recent weeks.
Griffins coach Rob Weil confirmed that Austin tore her ACL and Denhart bruised her forearm and stretched a number of tendons in her pitching arm.
Sophomore Brianna Jewett will be the Griffins’ go-to starter moving forward. In three starts, Jewett is 2-1, and she has not allowed more than two earned runs in an outing.
Jewett pitched well but ultimately was handed the loss in a 3-2 game against Huntington Beach last week.
“Bri is it,” Weil said after the game. “She pitched really well, (Huntington Beach) was just amped up. … But if you’re taking anything away from this game, it’s that we need to be prepared every single day.”
Losing your top two pitchers would be a hurdle for any squad to overcome. But Jewett appears to be capable of leading a loaded Griffins lineup on a lengthy postseason run.
HOME RUN LEADER
Capistrano Valley’s Amanda Gjertsen leads Orange County with 10 home runs this season. The LMU-bound senior hit her 10th homer in the Cougars’ 1-0 win over Dana Hills in a critical South Coast League matchup Thursday.
Gjsertsen is also among the county leaders with a .460 batting average, and close to 75 percent of her hits have gone for extra bases.
Los Alamitos’ Mary Iakopo is second in the county with seven homers.
Contact the writer: kconnolly@ocregister.com
