Torrance softball coach Don Glavich, pictured, warned before the season not to sleep on South Torrance.
Well, in his Pioneer League opener, Glavich watched South give Torrance fits until the final at-bat.
Lauren deCastro hit a game-winning double in the bottom of the seventh that just caught the chalk on the left-field foul-line as Torrance opened Pioneer League play Wednesday with a dramatic 2-1 victory over South Torrance at Wilson Park.
Karina Scott started the rally with a sharp one-out single to center. One out later, deCastro delivered with her double down the line.
"When it came off the bat, it looked like it would clear the fence, but I didn't know if it was going to stay fair," Torrance coach Don Glavich said. "The wind definitely helped it stay fair. I'll take a little help like that when I can get it."
DeCastro, who has been relegated to designated hitter after sustaining a strained ligament in her right elbow over two weeks, had been hit by a pitch in the first inning and almost had to leave the game.
"She toughed it out," Glavich said. "She said she could handle it. Around the fifth inning, it loosened up for her."
Torrance took a 1-0 lead in the sixth inning as Camille Redman singled home Mel Vazquez. But South tied it in the seventh as Leanna Flores doubled down the third-base line to score Shannon Hokama with one out.
Torrance pitcher Mea Flores struck out eight of her first nine batters and finished with 15 strikeouts and no walks in a four-hitter.
South pitcher Jessica Cherness also threw a four-hitter with six strikeouts and four walks.
"I think Chreness is a pitcher who can keep them in games," Glavich said. "Really that's all you need. She kept us off-balance. We've been on a bit of a tear since Las Vegas, but she had us guessing the whole game."
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