What a difference a day can make.
No. 7 Mater Dei locked up the third and final guaranteed Trinity League playoff spot Thursday afternoon, overwhelming Rosary, 12-2, in a play-in game at Thornton Park in Santa Ana.
Te Royals beat the Monarchs, 5-2, Wednesday on the very same field to force a three-way tie for second place in league with Santa Margarita also in the mix. Because the Eagles won the coin flips and garnered the No. 2 seed, Mater Dei and Rosary were forced to battle it out for a second consecutive day, with the winner earning an automatic playoff bid.
The Monarchs scored five runs in the first inning, and added six in the second. Kelli Godin went 3 for 3 at the plate, and Maddison Flores drove in four runs with a double and a homer.
Thursday’s game was Rosary’s fourth in as many days. The Royals battled their way back into the league race with wins against Santa Margarita, JSerra and Mater Dei to open the week, and a fourth consecutive win was certainly a tall order.
The Royals will be forced to wait until Monday afternoon to see if it is one of the two teams awarded with an at-large bid in the Division 1 playoffs.
In the South Coast League:
Aliso Niguel 9, Dana Hills 8: Chasing seven runs through four and a half innings of play, the Wolverines plated four runs in the fifth, added another three in the sixth and completed the shocking comeback on Gen Brittingham’s game-winning RBI single in the bottom of the eighth, clinching third place and a spot in the Division 2 playoffs in dramatic fashion Thursday afternoon.
In the Golden West League:
Loara 5, Ocean View 4: The Saxons clinched their third consecutive league title behind freshman Valarie Orona, who homered and drove in additional run on an RBI single in Loara’s regular season finale against the Seahawks.
In the Empire League:
Cypress 3, Kennedy 2: With the score knotted in the sixth, Centurions senior Yliana Bernal knocked in the go-ahead run with a two-out single, which proved to be the difference as Cypress locked down the No. 2 spot in Empire League play with a tight victory over the Fighting Irish.
