Dos Pueblos softball dropped the final game of the regular season to Rio Mesa by a score of 10-2 on Monday at Okinaka Field in Goleta.
With the result, the Chargers and Spartans both end the year at 10-2 in Channel League play and will share the Channel League championship title.
“We just ran into a buzz saw today,” Dos Pueblos head coach Mike Gerken said. “We were in a good spot going into the fifth (inning), only down 2-1, but things got away from us and Rio made the most of their opportunities. Hats off to them; they really came to play.”
Monday’s regular-season finale also marked the final regular-season home game for seniors Anastasia Brunner, Kacey Hurley, Aubrey Carreño and Esme Mazurkiewicz, who were honored in a pregame Senior Day ceremony.
Morici got off to as good a start as you could ask for, recording three straight strikeouts looking in the top of the first.
The DP offense followed suit in the bottom half, as Anastasia Brunner led off with a single and Morici was hit by a pitch to start a rally.
Julianna Brunner then came through with a clutch two-out single into right-center field to score her sister, Anastasia, and take a 1-0 lead into the second.
After an uneventful second, Rio Mesa threatened in the top of the third with runners on first and second with one out. However, Morici buckled down and got back-to-back strikeouts to preserve the lead.
Analia Lopez struck out the side in the bottom of the third, setting the stage for her to help herself out at the plate in the fourth. After a leadoff single, Lopez blasted a two-run homer over the right-field wall to give her team a 2-1 advantage.
While Lopez continued to cruise in the circle with a scoreless fourth, the Spartan offense stayed hot as well in the top of the fifth.
Rio Mesa loaded up the bases and Isabelle Ambriz and Keira Barry came through with back-to-back huge two-out swings. A two-run double by Ambriz and a Barry three-run bomb ballooned the lead to 7-1.
Lopez kept rolling through the DP offense, and the Spartans extended their lead to 10-1 in the sixth and seventh innings with a bases-loaded walk, an RBI sacrifice fly and an RBI single.
The Chargers rounded out the scoring in the bottom of the seventh when Vereniki Maniadi blasted a towering solo homer over the left-field fence to bring the game to its final score of 10-2.
Dos Pueblos (18-6, 10-2 Channel League) will now look ahead to the CIF-SS playoffs, and its division and first-round matchup will be released next Monday at 9 a.m.