CIF softball playoffs: Camarillo, Oaks Christian reach Division 1 quarterfinals
Rylee Pinedo set the table and Ainsley Berlingeri shut the door as the Camarillo High softball team knocked off the defending CIF-Southern Section Division 1 champion on the road Tuesday.
Pinedo was 2 for 3 with two RBIs and a run scored and Berlingeri struck out 10 as the Scorpions held on for 3-2 second-round win at Anaheim-Esperanza.
“We came out ready to play,” coach Nichole Pinedo said. “Rylee set the tone.”
The younger Pinedo, a UCLA commit, led off the game with a bunt single and scored on Natalie Yamane’s single up the middle.
“Nat came up big,” Nichole Pinedo said.
Pinedo followed with a two-run, two-out single that scored Isabella Fortini and Leah Cowans and gave Camarillo a 3-0 lead in the top of the second.
Berlingeri, a junior, allowed just six hits and two baserunners after Makenna Milliman’s two-run home run pulled Esperanza within 3-2 in the fourth inning to win her 21st game of the season.
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“They executed what we practice every day,” Nichole Pinedo said.
Camarillo (24-3) will host Los Alamitos (22-7) in Thursday’s quarterfinals.
Division 1
Oaks Christian 13, Chino Hills 3 (6 inn.): Anahi Arreola hit a grand slam and Lily Knox was 3 for 3 with three RBIs and three runs scored as the top-seeded Lions improved to 30-0.
“The girls played well, all the way through the lineup,” Oaks Christian coach Pete Ackermann said of his team’s second straight mercy run-rule win in the Division 1 playoffs.
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Micaela Kastor struck out eight to improve to 21-0 in the circle and reached base three times, including an RBI double, which gave the Lions the lead in the first inning.
“We were ready for the challenge,” Kastor said
Knox made it 2-0 with an RBI single in the first, started a four-run third with a leadoff single and blasted a two-run home run to deep center, her third in two playoff games, in the sixth.
“It felt nice off the bat,” Knox said.
Arreola’s grand slam in the fourth inning was her personal walk-off clout. The senior first baseman left the game after crossing the plate to attend her confirmation.
Oaks Christian will travel to Murrieta Mesa on Thursday.
Division 2
Corona-Centennial 10, Royal 0: Rylee Dugar had the lone hit for the visiting Highlanders, whose season ends at 15-10.
Division 3
Tesoro 5, Agoura 2: Junior shortstop Samantha Tagawa was 2 for 3 with two runs scored, but the Chargers (16-12-1) bowed out in the second round at home.
Abby Lockman’s RBI groundout gave Agoura a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Freshman Mia Gomez’s sacrifice fly doubled the lead in the third.
But Tesoro scored twice in the fifth to tie the game and three times in the sixth to advance.
Division 4
Moorpark 2, Irvine-Woodbridge 0: Sophomore Madison Finnerty threw a three-hit shutout, striking out 13, as the top-seeded Musketeers advanced to the Division 4 quarterfinals.
“It was a good pitching duel,” Moorpark coach Meagan Stott said. “Madison looked great today.”
After three scoreless innings, Moorpark (21-4) scored its runs in the top of the fourth, when Shae Anderson and Maddie Finnerty singled and scored. Kate Guy had an RBI single.
“It was a long trip,” Stott said of going to Irvine, “but they made it worth it.”
Anderson was 2 for 3 to lead the Moorpark (21-4), which will visit La Cañada in Thursday’s quarterfinals.
Northridge-Heritage Christian 1, Buena 0: After playing a 28-run slugfest in the first round, the Bulldogs were eliminated in a second-round pitchers’ duel.
Sarah Torres’ RBI single with two outs in the top of the seventh inning separated the teams.
Danica Dykstra allowed just four hits for Buena (13-14). Aubrey Trigo, Asia Mata and Dakota Moore had the Buena hits.
Division 5
Fillmore 6, Northwood 5: Lily Murillo’s two-run double with two outs in the top of the sixth drove in the decisive runs as the Flashes (13-4) advanced with their second straight one-run win on the road.
“It was a tight game,” Fillmore coach Tony Cervantes said. “Those kids didn’t want to give up.”
Kayleen Jacinto was 2 for 3 with two runs scored and a two-run double in Fillmore’s three-run fourth.
Amber Cervantes struck out six in six innings and Emma Estrella earned the save for Fillmore, which hosts Flintridge-Sacred Heart in Thursday’s quarterfinals.
San Marino 6, Santa Paula 0: Senior Claire Streeter threw a two-hit shutout for San Marino. Santa Paula, which won the Citrus Coast League title, finishes its season with a 15-11-1 record.
Division 6
Indio 12, Nordhoff 0: After wins in the wild-card and first rounds, the Rangers’ postseason ride came to an end with a home loss.
Breanna Ruiz, Chelsea Trejo, Jacaranda Shepard and Jimena Vazquez had hits for Nordhoff (6-14).
Joe Curley covers softball for The Star. He can be reached at joe.curley@vcstar.com. Follow him @vcsjoecurley on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: CIF softball playoffs: Camarillo, Oaks Christian reach Div. 1 quarterfinals
