Prior to honoring its graduating players on Senior Night, Mira Costa’s softball team acknowledged opponent Redondo’s seniors.
But the Mustang’s hospitality carried over into the game as the Sea Hawks capitalized on their rival’s miscues scoring four runs in the first inning en rout to an 8-1 victory at Marine West field that determined the Bay League champion.
The win gave Redondo (20-7, 9-1) its third consecutive Bay League championship and much needed momentum entering the CIF playoffs. The Sea Hawks were coming off two shaky outings suffering a 4-1 home loss to Peninsula and needing a two-out rally in the seventh inning to defeat Palos Verdes on Tuesday.
“I love it when the team can capitalize and get those early runs,” Redondo head coach Jennifer Dessert said. “The girls were fired to up get runs in the first inning. We had talked about that going into the game. If we knew that we could do it when we’re down with two outs left, why can’t we do it at the beginning of the game and the girls were ready for that.”
Mira Costa (20-8, 8-2) got off to a fast start in the bottom of the first inning but Redondo pitcher Kat Ung worked out of a jam surrendering only one run after singles by Jamie Hoffman, Grace Herron and Dillan Boada loaded the bases with no outs.
After a force out at the plate, Katie Gould’s short blooper over the drawn-in third basemen’s head brought in Herron for Mira Costa’s only run of the game. The runner on second was tagged out going to third and a come-backer to Ung finished the inning.
Hoffman and Gould each went 2 for 3 in the game.
Ung allowed only two hits the rest of the way and recorded five strikeouts. At the plate, the junior went 2 for 4 with one run scored.
“It’s always awesome to have insurance runs behind me, it makes me less nervous out there,” Ung said. “I’m glad everyone was hitting. My changeups and curveballs were working really well. We’re really looking forward to CIF. It was great to win league and beat Costa. I’m so glad I get to play with these seniors.”
The first-inning rally by Mira Costa – who has a team batting average of .412 – opened the eyes of Dessert and her coaching staff.
“Costa started off strong against us doing the right things to be effective against us in the beginning of the game but Kat and I, our catcher (Samantha Pech) and coaches talked about changing our strategy and do what it takes to throw them off,” Dessert said.
Redondo added a run in the top of the second after Brigid Antonelli hit a double, was bunted to third and scored on a fly ball to right by KP Fraser.
A towering home run to left field by Morgan Moczygemba in the top of the sixth inning put the Sea Hawks up 6-1. Redondo added two insurance runs in the top of the seventh inning on RBI by Haley Reed and Kathryn Fisher.
The win was particularly satisfying for Redondo’s four seniors who finished with a 9-16 record in their freshman year.
“I couldn’t be more thrilled with this win. It’s been a long, long time that Redondo’s had a three-peat and I’m glad we’re all here to be a part of that,” Dessert said. “When these girls were freshmen, we finished second to last. We won our last game against Peninsula which we used to go forward. We said that was the last time that (a losing season) was going to happen and the girls have done it.”
Redondo will host Crescenta Valley (16-10) in the first round of the playoff on Thursday. All games with the exception of the finals are scheduled for 3:15 p.m. Brackets and results are available at cifss.org.
Mira Costa hosts Laguna Hills (14-11) in its first-round game while Peninsula (17-13), the Bay League’s third team, earned a wild-card berth and hosted Arcadia on Tuesday. The winner advances to play at top-seeded Grand Terrace (22-3) in the first round.
