Ousley's homer comes at good time for Canyon

Taylor Ousley busted out of her slump in a major way, hitting a homer to lead off the bottom of the seventh inning that gave No. 2 Canyon a 2-1 victory over No. 9 Trabuco Hills in the Michelle Carew Classic on Thursday at Peralta Park.

“I have had one of those before, but it's been a long time,” Ousley said of the game-winning homer. “This one felt real good.”

The Mustangs took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third. Madi Geiger was hit by a pitch to start the inning. Pinch runner Ashley Putkamer took second on Natalia Capo's sacrifice and she moved to third on Kristyn Summers' ground out to second.

Taylor Thurman came through with a bloop single up the middle to drive in the run for Trabuco Hills.

Ousley's heads-up base running helped set up the tying run for Canyon. Sophomore Cheyanne Tarango led off the bottom of the fourth inning with a single.

Courtesy runner Taylor Alderete moved to third on back-to-back groundouts. Ousley walked, then took off for second when she caught Trabuco Hills pitcher Kayla Massey napping. As soon as Massey turned to throw to second, Alderete, who is Canyon's fastest player, bolted for home and scored with ease.

It looked as if the game would stay knotted because of the way Massey and Tarango were pitching.

That was until Ousley drilled her shot to the gap in left-center field for the victory.

Tarango allowed four hits, one walk, one hit batter and she had seven strikeouts to earn the victory. Massey allowed two hits, walked five and struck out six.

Canyon improved to 13-5, while Trabuco Hills dropped to 11-4.

In other Michelle Carew Classic games:

Valencia (Valencia) 4, California (Whittier) 3: Annie Dreher drilled a line drive to the gap in right-center field to drive in the winning run with one out in the bottom of the 10th inning as the Vikings (13-3) got past the Condors (7-6).

Rancho Bernardo (San Diego) 2, Pacifica 1: Christy Nelson drove in Lauren Mario with a two-out triple in the bottom of the sixth inning, and the Broncos (13-2-1) held on to defeat the Mariners (8-9).

Rancho Bernardo, ranked No. 3 in San Diego County, picked up an 8-0 victory over Fullerton (8-8) earlier in the day.

Esperanza 8, Murrieta Valley 6: Kristin Scharkey went 4 for 4 with two runs, two stolen bases and one RBI, Trea Steele hit a two-run home run, Maddy Sale went 2 for 3 with two RBIs and Brittany Virgoe went 2 for 3 with a run as the Aztecs(10-7-1) beat the Nighthawks (4-8).

Norco 5, Ayala (Chino Hills) 2: Nicole Sappingfield hit a towering home run to ignite a four-ran rally in the bottom of the sixth inning as the Cougars (13-2) rallied to beat the Bulldogs (13-7).

Vista Murrieta 7, El Toro 1: Alexis Villamor hit a three-run homer that was followed by Taylor Edwards' solo shot to break open a close game in the bottom of the sixth as the Broncos (11-3) defeated the Chargers (7-11).

Los Alamitos 10, Fullerton 1: Brittney Spalding hit a home run in the fifth, and her twin sister Chanelle added a two-run shot in seventh as the Griffins (15-4) rolled over the Indians.

Los Alamitos 10, Garden Grove 1: Alicia Walker hit a solo homer and Michelle Morello added a two-run triple in the fifth to give the Griffins a nine-run lead and a victory by the mercy rule over the Argos (8-8).

Vista Murrieta 5, Chino 2: Alexis Villamor belted two home runs to lead the Broncos past the Cowboys (7-8).

In the Loara Tournament:

Huntington Beach 15, Santa Ana Valley 0: Amanda Horowitz threw three no-hit innings with eight strikeouts to earn the victory on her 17th birthday for the Oilers against the Falcons.

In the Empire League:

Loara 3, Kennedy 0: Kayla Nash tossed a one-hitter to help the Saxons (5-8, 1-0) shut out the visiting Fighting Irish (7-4, 0-1).

In the Century League:

Brea Olinda 8, El Dorado 7: Maegan Slogget went 4 for 4 with a double and two RBIs, Meagan Esteban went 3 for 4 with two runs and Jennifer Esteban went 2 for 4 with two runs to help the Ladycats (7-7, 1-1) rally past the visiting Golden Hawks (2-8, 0-2).

In the Orange League:

Western 8, Magnolia 3: Angela Arias went 3 for 4 with two doubles, a homer and three RBIs to lift the Pioneers (7-3, 2-0) over the visiting Sentinels (9-4, 0-2).

Savanna 18, Anaheim 1: Holly Mitchell went 4 for 4 with two runs, two stolen bases and one RBI and Kat Davidson went 3 for 4 with two doubles, three runs and two RBIs to lead the Rebels (7-9, 2-0) past the host Colonists (4-7, 0-2).

In the Academy League:

Oxford Academy 10, Capistrano Valley Christian 0: Becky Roh went 2 for 2 with a triple, a run and two RBIs and Rachel Burley, Cassandra Coleman and Cassandra Oregel each had two RBIs a piece as the Patriots (10-5, 1-0) beat the visiting Eagles (2-9, 1-1) in five innings via the mercy rule.

In nonleague:

La Quinta 9-11, Estancia 2-4: Katie Fredrickson went 2 for 4 with a three-run homer for the Aztecs in the opener and Adrianna Cardoza pitched five no-hit innings of relief with six strikeouts in the second game as La Quinta (9-7) swept the host Eagles (12-5).

Contact the writer: carias@ocregister.com