Yucaipa Lady T-Birds open softball playoffs at home

YUCAIPA - The Lady Thunderbirds softball team drew a first round home game on Thursday in the CIF Southern Section Division II Playoffs against the El Rancho Dons of Pico Rivera, the second place team out of the six-team Del Rio League. The Dons finished 8-2 in league, 13-12 overall.

A look at El Rancho's record reveals the Dons started the season slow with a 1-8 record, but came on strong at the end with an 11-2 record. The Dons are led by freshman pitcher Katherine Flores who has a 9-3 record with a 1.39 ERA.

Yucaipa comes into the playoffs with a 21-3 record overall, 11-3 in the Citrus Belt League where they finished second behind Redlands. The Lady T-Birds are led by senior pitchers Jessica English (10-5 record, 1.88 ERA, 134 strikeouts in 104 innings) and Tracy Hampton (10-3 record, 2.16 ERA, 75 strikeouts in 81 innings).

In the hitting department, Megan Allen was one of the Citrus Belt League's dominant players with a .444 batting average (#3) and 33 RBI's (#1) along with Ali Reykdal at .387 BA, and 20 RBI's; Katie Olinger, .332 BA, and 16 RBI's; and Payton Wood, .346 BA, 13 RBI's.

Game time is 3:15 p.m. at the Yucaipa High School softball field.