Relying on strong pitching, Redondo’s softball team began the postseason with two close victories in reaching the CIF-Southern Section Division 3 quarterfinals where the Sea Hawks will travel to take on third-seeded Gahr in a 3:15 p.m. game on Thursday..
Senior ace Kat Ung hurled her second consecutive shutout Tuesday allowing only three hits while striking out 11 in a 2-0 victory at Mayfair in the second round of the playoffs.
Allison Betty went 3 for 4 including a double and homerun and Imani Moore added an RBI single for the Sea Hawks.
Ung struck out eight batters in a 1-0 opening-round win against visiting St. Joseph/Lakewood Samantha Pech drove in Marina Griffin in the fifth inning, who had reached first base on a bunt single, for the game’s only run.
Redondo (20-9) finished No. 6 in the CIF-SS Division 3 poll but will face a Gahr team (24-5-2) that has outscored opponents 24-3 in its first two playoff games.
“Our girls showed a lot of grit and determination the last two games to defend the shut outs,” Redondo coach Jennifer Dessert said. “We are successful at getting runners on base and key hits – but we will need more offense to defeat Gahr. I am confident that we will play strong defense and looking at who Gahr has played over season and their pitching we know that we need to stay strong on offense, execute plays and score more runs.”
In Division 4, top-seeded North Torrance (26-6) and second-seeded Torrance (23-9) remain on a collision course for the championship.
North has defeated Monrovia 5-2 and held off Heritage Christian 1-0 to advance to the quarterfinals where they will play at San Marcos (19-10) on Thursday.
Torrance shutout Maranatha 10-0 before routing Temescal Canyon 11-3 in the second round. The defending champion Tartars play at Ramona (19-8) on Thursday.
Results and brackets are available at cifss.org.
