St. Lucy’s shocks unbeaten Gahr, 10-4: The Regents (18-6) upset the No. 1 seeded Gladiators (26-1), handing Gahr its first loss of the season in the CIF Southern Section Division 2 second-round game. Audrey Sellers hit a grand slam and Dakota Casper pitched a complete game for St. Lucy’s. The Regents will host Villa Park in the quarterfinals on Thursday.
“It feels good. It’s definitely a big momentum,” Casper said. “We’re just going to keep that momentum going on Thursday. Just stick to the same thing we did against Gahr and we’ll be successful.”
For the Regents, the game plan going into Tuesday’s matchup was to keep the Gladiators guessing.
“All week really we were told to stay on the corners, change it up and keep them off their toes basically,” Casper said. “And then my team, they’re my No. 1 supporters and they were just telling me the whole time to keep playing my game.”
Even when Gahr backed Casper into a corner, she did not falter under the pressure.
“They scored three runs one inning, it was bases loaded and no outs, but I had trust in my defense,” Casper said. “They’ve gotten me out of spots like that before.”
Although Gahr had not lost entering Tuesday, St. Lucy’s approached the Gladiators like they were just another opponent.
“We’re use to it,” Casper said. “With the league we play in, we have such intensity with Etiwanda, Upland and Chino Hills. So it just feels like another win in league honestly.”
Wilson 3, Santa Paula 1 — Elena Bahimtewa pitched a complete game, striking out four, improving her record to 8-3 and went 2 for 3 with a triple for the Wildcats (16-10-2) in the Division 6 second-round victory. Manelle Meono went 1 for 1, with a triple, a pair of walks, two runs scored and three stolen bases and Mia Ayala drove in the go-ahead run for Wilson. The Wildcats will face Harvard Westlake in the quarterfinals on Thursday.
Grand Slam for @_audreysellers_ ! @coachbriggze @jen_schro CIF Round 2 against undefeated Gahr! pic.twitter.com/Y8WzvFikIU
— Mom (@LysaTweets) May 23, 2017
Charter Oak's Morgan Salgado with the shower after grand slam that leads to 8-7 win over Upland pic.twitter.com/q8YFqLFHii
— Fred J. Robledo (@SGVNSports) May 24, 2017
Rookie Charter Oak softball coach Brittany Saucedo after 8-7 win over Upland pic.twitter.com/T9oH9ab9Y8
— Fred J. Robledo (@SGVNSports) May 24, 2017
Tuesday’s second round results
Division 1
Pacifica 3, South Hills 0
Division 2
St. Lucy’s 10, Gahr 4
Charter Oak 8, Upland 7
Division 3
Los Altos 8, Crescenta Valley 0
Division 4
Montclair 12, Arroyo 1
Division 5
South El Monte 5, Barstow 2
Division 6
Wilson 3, Santa Paula 1
Culver City 7, Azusa 2
Division 7
Mountain View 10, Animo Leadership 0
Thursday’s quarterfinals
All games start at 3:15 p.m.
Division 2
Dana Hills at Charter Oak
Villa Park at St. Lucy’s
Division 3
Los Altos at Ayala
Division 5
Heritage Christian at South El Monte
Division 6
Harvard-Westlake at Wilson
Division 7
Mountain View at Century