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MISSION VIEJO – The Mission Viejo softball team is pure energy.

The Diablos talk about it at every opportunity, work on it in practice and they put it on display Tuesday.

Mission Viejo, ranked No. 1 in the county, fed on its energy, pushed the action on the base paths and cruised to a 9-2 victory over No. 9 Capistrano Valley in a South Coast League game at Mission Viejo High.

“I feel like we have so much more energy,” Mission Viejo catcher Terra McGowan. “We’ve been working in practice. We did a drill where we had to cheer or else there was going to be consequences. So we had to keep it up there. It was fun.”

With a seemingly endless supply of creativity and oxygen, the Diablos (16-2, 3-0) continuously cheered on their teammates from the dugout, and it seemed to help Mission Viejo get an early jump.

Capistrano Valley (10-5, 1-1) allowed leadoff walks in each of the first three inning, and Mission Viejo quickly converted each of them into runs.

McGowan hit a two-run home run in the first. Kyra Snyder scored on a bases-loaded error and Samantha Dees ran home on a passed ball in the second. Dees and Peyton Cody drove in runs with singles in the third for a 6-0 lead.

Two more runs scored off McGowan’s bat as a ball scorched between the legs of the Cougars shortstop brought home Camryn Ybarra and Olivia Viggiano in the fourth. Harvey doubled home McGowan to make it 9-0.

“We capitalized on the walks and got the ball on the ground,” Mission Viejo coach Troy Ybarra said. “They made a couple mistakes to extend the inning and we were able to push the runs across today.”

On the mound, Snyder was nearly flawless. She scattered three hits and shut out Capo Valley through six innings.

“She kept the ball low. Her change-ups were perfect,” McGowan said. “It all worked out. The last inning doesn’t matter. It was all good.”

In that last inning, the Cougars put togehter back-to-back solo home runs by Kennedy Hira and Hayley Hensley.

“That’s what they’ve been doing all season,” Cougars coach Ashley Evans said. “If we are behind, we don’t ever feel out of a game. Just ran out of time, I guess.”