Dos Pueblos softball held on for a 7-6 extra-inning win over Villa Park in the CIF-SS D3 Quarterfinals on Tuesday in Villa Park.
The Chargers will return home for the semifinals on Saturday, when they will play host to at Okinaka Field. First pitch is set for 12 p.m.
“What a game that was,” Dos Pueblos head coach Mike Gerken said. “It had everything you’d expect from teams wanting to go to the semifinals: great pitching, solid defense and timely hitting. Our team showed tremendous courage today. The season was on the line and they came through.”
After battling back and forth all day, the two sides went into the ninth inning locked in a 2-2 tie.
The first two batters of the ninth were retired before Vereniki Maniadi reached on a Villa Park error. Kyanne Bechler and Chaya Blaney followed with back-to-back singles to load the bases and bring the top of the order back up.
Anastasia Brunner clutched up with an RBI single into left field to take a 3-2 lead. Zella Cassidy then followed with a two-run double over the right fielder’s head to extend that lead out to 5-2.
Emily Morici opened the floodgates even more, belting a two-run double of her own to make it a 7-2 advantage heading into the bottom of the ninth.
Those insurance runs proved to be crucial, as Villa Park played four runs in the bottom of the ninth. However, Morici buckled down in the circle and stranded the tying run on first to secure the win.
The quarterfinal showdown was a pitchers’ duel in the early stages, as the game remained a scoreless tie until the bottom of the fifth when Villa Park broke the seal and plated a pair of runs.
Dos Pueblos answered back in the top of the sixth as Kacey Hurley roped an RBI double to cut the deficit in half and Julianna Brunner came through with a run-scoring groundout to even the score at 2-2.
Morici worked through a scoreless bottom half before the Chargers came up empty in the seventh.
The Spartans threatened with a runner on third and one out in the bottom of the seventh, but Julianna Brunner speared a line drive at third base and tagged the runner off the base for the double play and to send the game into extra innings.
Both pitchers worked through a scoreless eighth inning to keep the game tied and set the stage for the Dos Pueblos eruption in the ninth.
Along with pitching all nine innings for the Chargers, Morici led the offense with three hits. Meanwhile, Hurley had a pair of hits and Anastasia Brunner reached base three times.
“This was a total team effort today,” Gerken said. “Emily was a total workhorse in the hottest weather we’ve played in all year. She displayed great mental toughness when they started getting hits and just kept going after them. Our defense backed her up and we got the win.”