There were dark clouds hanging around Okinaka Field on Thursday for Dos Pueblos’ CIF-SS Division 4 softball opener against Oak Park.
It didn’t rain, but there was plenty of thunder and lightning provided by the DP bats in an 11-7 victory.
The Chargers (21-9) blasted two homers, two doubles and one triple in a 13-hit attack that sends them to a second-round matchup at Santa Fe on Tuesday in Santa Fe Springs.
“I like our chances when we score 11,” quipped Dos Pueblos coach Mike Gerken after his team scored in every inning but the fifth against an Oak Park squad (11-10) that was the No. 3 team out of the Coastal Canyon League.
Mia Reveles crushed a three-run homer over the right-field fence the second inning and Bella Nuño hit a towering two-run blast to center field in the fourth to spark the Channel League runners-up to the playoff win.
“We’ve had a great week of practice, and I said going into this game our key was going to be our eight and nine batters, Pau Avina and Trisha Lo,” said Gerken.
The pair got on base and scored a combined five times, with Lo going 3-for-3 with a double and a RBI and Avina hitting a triple.
“I’m really happy. I always want to be on base for Bella or Mia to hit a ball and move the runners and stuff like that,” said Lo, the Chargers’ right fielder.
“Trisha came up with really big hits, and that just puts people on base for Bella and Mia. And now pitchers can’t make mistakes. Mia and Bella made them pay,” said Gerken.
Oak Park took advantage of some first-inning walks from DP pitcher Georgia Wilson and scored two runs on a single down the right-field line by Savannah Mitchell, who had five RBIs on the day.
The Chargers got one back in the bottom of the first, capitalizing on an error in the outfield on ball hit by Reveles. With two out, freshman Anastasia Brunner singled to left field to score Reveles.
Dos Pueblos erupted for four runs with two outs in the second. Avina tripled and Lo followed with a double to tie the score at 2-2. Nuño followed with a single and went to second on a throw home. Reveles came up and hammered a pitch from Amanda Smith for a three-run homer and a 5-2 lead.
The Eagles bounced back in the third as Mitchell followed a single by Cameron McGugan and a walk to Smith with a game-tying three-run homer over the center-field fence.
Nuño gave DP the lead for good in the fourth with her 17th homer of the season, a two-run shot that brought in Lo, who led off the inning with a single.
“I’m so excited when (Nuño and Reveles) hit their home runs and we can celebrate,” said Lo, who scored three runs.
Gerken praised the hard work that Nuño and Reveles put in on hitting.
“They always take extra batting practice and they work on driving the ball to gaps. They got the right pitches and they hit them out.”
Oak Park made it an 8-6 game in the fifth on two singles and a hit batter. Kori Sorenson got the RBI hit.
The Eagles threatened in the sixth, scoring a run on a one-out single from Zoe Vanderbok and putting runners on second and first.
DP third baseman Lysandra Pimentel ended the threat by turning a double play. She fielded a ground ball from McGugan, stepped on third to get the lead runner and fired across the diamond to first baseman Summer McCeney to complete the play.
Dos Pueblos put the game away with three runs in the bottom of the sixth. With Avina and Lo on base, Nuño hit a RBI double and Reveles followed with a two-run single.
“It’s a great feeling,” said Gerken of winning a CIF playoff game, “because as sad as it is, the days are numbered. We hope we have five more games, and every game I get with these girls is a joy and a pleasure. They’ve been such a great group to coach and I just want to keep coaching them five more games.”