Rosary coach still proud in loss

TUSTIN - Rosary coach Tom Tice was both proud and frustrated by his team's effort in a 7-4 loss to North Torrance in the championship game of the Foothill Roundtable Invitational on Saturday at Tustin Columbus Sports Complex.

"I was frustrated that we got the lead-off runner on in the first three innings and didn't do anything," Rosary coach Tom Tice said. "But after I challenged them not to get shut out I was proud of the fact that we responded that inning with some runs and made it interesting at the end at least."

There's nothing to be ashamed about losing to North Torrance, which has seven signed or committed players on its roster and has beaten No. 3 Edison and a split a doubleheader with no. 8 Los Alamitos.

"They are very good," Tice said of North Torrance. "We certainly didn't help. Three games in 24 hours will take it out of you, but I'm proud they tried to stay in there mentally the whole time."

Amber Perez hit a two-run shot in the second, Delaware State-bound Jordan Stamps had a two-run single in the third to give the Saxons a 4-0 lead. Bryanna Ybarra had an RBI single and Seattle-bound Megan Ottino had a two-run single in the bottom fourth to make it 7-0.

Rosary's players responded to Tice's challenge with three runs in the top of the fifth. Pinch hitter Kate Prior doubled to lead off the inning and scored on Boise State-bound Izzy Serrano's single. Arizona State-bound Chelsea Gonzales added an inside-the-park home run to drive in two more runs.

Serrano drove in a run with a two-out triple in the top of the seventh to cut it to 7-4, but the game ended on Gonzales' hard grounder down the third-base line.

North Torrance (19-6) got the finals with a 6-4 victory over Mater Dei. Bryanna Ybarra belted two two-run homers and Gabbie Fordiani had a solo shot for the Saxons.

St. John's-bound Kaitlin Fitzgerald hit a three-run homer in the third and Ashley Radziuk had a two-run double in the fifth as the Royals (15-10) knocked off No. 6 Marina, 6-2, in the semifinals. Kaitlin Fitzgerald has 30 RBIs on the season, which is three shy of the school record of 33 RBIs in a single season by Katie Chifcian (2005).

Oregon-bound Nikki Udria singled and homered to help Mater Dei (13-7) to a 4-1 victory over Marina (17-9) in the third-place game. Marina's seniors missed Saturday's games because they were at Prom and Vikings ace Tera Blanco, a sophomore who has committed to Michigan, didn't pitch because of a sore back.

In nonleague games:

El Toro 8-9, Murrieta Valley (Murrieta) 2-4: Emily Haslinger went 4 for 5 with two doubles and homer, two runs and two RBIs, Taylor Rabkin went 2 for 3 with a double and three RBIs and Heather Nonora went 3 for 4 with two runs to lead the visiting Chargers (12-13) to victory in the first game.

Caitlin Harman went 2 for 4 with a double, two runs and two RBIs, Haslinger went 2 for 3 with two runs and an RBI, Nonora went 2 for 3 with a run and an RBI and Hailey Fullerton drove in two runs to give El Toro a sweep of the doubleheader.

El Toro combined for 26 hits in the two games.

Cerritos 8, Rancho Alamitos 3: Kaylilani Minami went 3 for 4 with a run and an RBI as the Dons (17-3) took down the Vaqueros (8-10).