CIF-SS PLAYOFFS
DIVISION 5 CHAMPIONSHIP
No. 1 La Caada vs. No. 2 Beaumont
Deanna Manning Stadium, Irvine, 5:15 p.m.
By Miguel A. Melendez, Staff Writer
The top-seeded La Caada High School softball team will venture into uncharted territory at 5:15 today when it takes on No. 2 seed Beaumont in the CIF-Southern Section Division 5 championship game at Deanna Manning Stadium in Irvine.
La Caada captured its lone softball championship in 1995 under coach Tom Parker. That this is the current Spartans’ first trip to the title game doesn’t faze coach KC Mathews, who’s in his fourth season at the helm.
The Spartans (25-3) advanced to the semifinals last season and were ousted by South Hills, which has since moved up to Division 3 and is coming off a semifinal rout of Bishop Amat to punch its ticket to tonight’s final against top seed Oaks Christian.
La Caada faced tougher competition on its schedule this season, and, coupled with last year’s deep run, the Spartans could see it pay off as they handle the finals with a subtle but focused approach.
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“They’re handling it fine,” Mathews said. “They’ve shown that focus throughout the playoffs. Last year’s experience going into the semifinals, you just go out there and play. That’s really how they’re approaching this game, like another softball game.”
In Beaumont (25-4), the Spartans will take on a team that played a relatively tough Mountain Pass League schedule and proceeded to knock out two traditional powers (Marymount and Arroyo) to reach the finals.
“It’s no surprise, I’ll tell you that much, to see them in the finals,” Mathews said.
“They’re the No. 2-ranked team in CIF and they got there for a reason. They have a very tough league.
“We saw their league’s third- place team (Hemet) in the playoffs, and they were a very good team.”
Lauren O’Leary will get the start for the Spartans. She’s been lights out all season long with a 24-2 record, 0.40 ERA and 229 strikeouts in 174 innings. O’Leary tossed a one- hitter in the second round and her first career perfect game in the quarterfinals, but struggled some in the semifinals, hitting three batters, issuing two walks and giving up three earned runs.
“Lauren has done a phenomenal job all year long,” Mathews said, showing no sign of concern with O’Leary’s performance in the Spartans’ 6-2 win over South El Monte to advance to the finals.
Anna Edwards is one of the most feared hitters in all of Division 5. The Northwestern-bound power hitter is batting .465 with 30 RBIs, 11 home runs and nine doubles. That she went hitless against South El Monte also is not a concern to Mathews, and the numbers prove why.
“She hit two balls hard,” Mathews said. “They walked her the first time up and pitched around her the second time. They weren’t giving her anything close. She hit the ball twice hard, once to the right field and another one that I thought was going to take the second baseman’s head off.”
But the beauty of a deep lineup is that pitching around the star player can only go so far, evidenced by others who have proven clutch, much like Megan Siepler’s bases-clearing double in the quarterfinals or Aubri Thompson, who went 2 for 3 with two RBIs against South El Monte.
But make no mistake, Beaumont has some power in its lineup, too, led by Stephanie Tickemyer who is batting .429 with 20 RBIs, 12 doubles and seven home runs. Alyssa Fuimaono leads the team in RBIs (36) and is second in home runs (5). Kristen Neal made a name for herself in a 4-0 win over Arroyo in the semifinals when she connected for her fifth and sixth home runs of the season. She has 34 RBIs.
Fuimaono will likely take the mound. She’s pitched 177 innings and is 24-4 with 201 strikeouts and a 1.74 ERA.
In short, the top two seeds in the final resemble each other enough to, at the very least, have all the makings of an exciting final.
“Good teams come out on top because they’re not a one-man show,” Mathews said. “I don’t think we’re a one-man show, and we’ve shown that all year long. We’ve gotten clutch performances from everyone in the lineup. That’s why teams get here because they have good lineups, and we’re expecting the same thing from Beaumont.”
