Emily Morici’s standout freshman campaign rolled on as Dos Pueblos softball defeated La Salle by a score of 5-1 on Monday in Pasadena to punch its ticket to the CIF-SS D3 Quarterfinals.
The Chargers (21-6) will remain on the road as they take on Villa Park (18-14) in the Quarterfinals on Wednesday.
Morici fired her second straight complete game of the playoffs, allowing just one run on one hit and one out while striking out an impressive 13 batters.
“I cannot say enough good things about Emily and catcher Kacey Hurley. They are both so in tune with each other after 20-plus games together. Kacey calls a great game, and when Emily is on, like she was today, we get a lot of strikeouts,” Dos Pueblos head coach Mike Gerken said.
The Dos Pueblos offense supplied some insurance early, as Anastasia Brunner launched a solo homer in the first at-bat of the game to take a 1-0 lead.
“Offensively, I asked the girls to try to send a message early. There’s no better message than putting one over the fence on the third pitch,” Gerken said.
One inning later, the Chargers took advantage of a La Salle error to double the lead to 2-0, which held until the top of the sixth inning.
Kyanne Bechler helped double the Dos Pueblos lead once again in the sixth, singling home Brooklyn Hedricks and Alina Gutierrez to make it a 4-0 game.
“Kyanne Bechler had a great game in the 8 spot today. She’s been so consistent all year, especially when we have runners on and need to make something happen. I’m really proud of the year she’s having,” Gerken said.
La Salle plated its lone run of the game in the bottom of the sixth on its lone hit of the game: a solo homer.
However, the Chargers got that run right back in the top of the seventh on a Morici RBI single, and Morici then set down La Salle in order in the bottom half to secure the win.
Morici also went 3-for-4 at the plate for Dos Pueblos, as did Brunner, who also scored two runs.