O.C. all-stars cruise past Riverside foes
WALNUT – The Orange County Softball All-Stars dominated the battle for bragging rights Monday as they defeated the Riverside County All-Stars, 9-2, in the eighth annual OC vs. Riverside County All Star Game at Mt. San Antonio College.
"This is probably the best team that we've ever had in the eight-year history of this tournament," said Dan Hay, the Orange County coach. "You've got four U.S. Junior National Team members, phenomenal pitching and power hitters. It doesn't get any better than this."
The O.C. All-Stars pitching staff was stellar. Five pitchers combined to shut down Riverside, allowing two earned runs on seven hits while striking out eight.
The offense did the rest, jumping to a 2-0 lead in the second inning after Canyon's Cheyanne Tarango singled to bring in Mater Dei catcher and Arizona State commit Amber Freeman from second base. Pacifica's Taylor Cox followed with another single, scoring Missouri-commit Kelsea Roth.
In the third inning, El Toro's Lauren Chamberlain put the game away.
Orange Lutheran pitcher Savannah King led off the inning with a single and moved over to second on a sacrifice bunt by Hallie Wilson. El Dorado's Janie Takeda then reached on an error after her line drive bounced of the third baseman's glove.
Chamberlain, an Oklahoma-commit, came to the plate and deposited Riverside Poly pitcher Cory Reinhardt's 3-2 offering over the right-center field fence to put the O.C. All Stars up 5-0.
"I was looking for a good pitch and she (Reinhardt) left it down the middle," Chamberlain said. "I just jumped all over it."
Chamberlain belted 12 home runs for El Toro this season, which accounted for nearly half of her 26 hits.
Northwestern commit Amy Letourneau was great both at the plate and on the mound. She crushed a two-run home run in the fifth inning that cleared the 215-foot sign in center field. The home run helped Letourneau get in a comfort zone when it was her turn to take the mound in the seventh inning.
The Santa Margarita pitcher struck out the side on 12 pitches in the seventh and allowed just one ball to leave the infield in her two innings of work.
"It (the home run) definitely helped with the confidence," Letourneau said.
