Mission Viejo falls in wild-card round

Chino Hills has six senior starters and many of the girls have been playing on the same teams for years.

Those seniors didn't want their season to end in the wild-card round of the CIF-SS Division III softball playoffs and they did something about.

The Huskies got an unearned run in the top of the seventh inning to force extra innings, then they got four consecutive hits to produce two runs in the top of the 10th to beat Mission Viejo, 4-2.

Senior shortstop Skylar Segura and senior second baseman Stephanie Thompson had back-to-back doubles with one out in the top of the 10th to score the go-ahead run. Senior first baseman Monica Ferguson added an RBI single to make it 4-2.

"I am extremely happy," Segura said. "We were both talking about that. We're both seniors. We were just like, 'We can't end like this.' We just knew we needed to step up and it was our time."

"I knew it was time," Thompson said. "We didn't have much more time left. I knew I had to get a hit. We had a lot of chances during the game. It worked out. Thank God."

Freshman pitcher Nikki Innamorato retired the side in order in the bottom of the 10th to nail down the victory for Chino Hills (20-9-1). Innamorato held Mission Viejo's high-powered offense to six hits, one earned run, while striking out nine. She also had five walks.

Senior Holly Hitzeman drove in senior Monica Ferguson with a double in the top of the fourth to give Chino Hills a 1-0 lead.

Mission Viejo's Mikayla Fernandez scored from third on a wild pitch in the bottom of the fourth to tie it, 1-1.

It looked like the Diablos (18-12) were in good shape after Tory Speer belted a solo shot to right-center field in the bottom of the sixth for a 2-1 Mission Viejo advantage.

Iin the top of the seventh, Hitzeman got a one-out single and moved to second on Paige Gumz' sacrifice. Nikki Girard hit a grounder in the hole at short. Diablos shortstop Chelsea Tate made a great backhand grab just to get to the ball.

Earlier in the game she made the same kind of play to rob Segura of a hit. This time, she overthrew first and Hitzeman scored the tying run.

In other Division III games:

Dana Hills 2, Downey 1:Julie Smith had an RBI double in the top of the first and pinch-hitter Maddison Bucilla had an RBI single in the top of the seventh to help the visiting Dolphins (18-10) get past the Vikings (19-10).

Dana Hills plays at Glendora on Thursday at 3:15 p.m.

Tesoro 5, Sunny Hills 0:Kristin Omori went 2 for 3 with two RBIs and Sam Pappas pitched a one-hitter with eight strikeouts as the Titans (22-4) defeated the visiting Lancers (15-7).

Tesoro plays at Bloomington on Thursday at 3:15 p.m.

Sonora 9, Paramount 2:Amanda Rodriguez went 3 for 4 with three RBIs and Ariel Tsuchiyama went 2 for 3 with two runs and an RBI to lift the Raiders (17-12) over the visiting Pirates (12-13).

Sonora plays at Los Altos on Thursday at 3:15 p.m.

In Division I:

Esperanza 6, Roosevelt (Corona) 4: Brittany Virgoe went 3 for 4 with a double and four RBIs and Kelsea Roth went 3 for 3 with a two-run homer in the third to lead a 16-hit attack for the visiting Aztecs (16-13-1) in a victory over the Mustangs (17-11).

Esperanza plays Mater Dei on Thursday at 3:15 p.m. at Thornton Park.

Orange Lutheran 9, Canyon (Canyon Country) 3:Brittany Boesel went 2 for 4 with a double, home run and four RBIs and Jackie Guy allowed six hits, three runs and struck out 15 to lead the visiting Lancers (19-11) past the Cowboys (15-14).

Orange Lutheran plays at third-seeded Canyon of Anaheim on Thursday at 3:15 p.m.

In Division IV:

Saddleback 10, La Quinta 8:Melba Valencia went 3 for 4 with two runs scored and Clarissa Romo went 2 for 3 with two runs and an RBI as the Roadrunners (17-10) outslugged the visiting Aztecs (15-12).

Saddleback plays at second-seeded El Segundo on Thursday at 3:15 p.m.

In Division VI:

Windward (Los Angeles) 1, Brethren Christian 0:The Wildcats (11-8) scored an unearned run in the bottom of the first and made it stand up for a victory over the visiting Warriors (9-6).

Contact the writer: carias@ocregister.com