Sports
Tritons Take Fourth at Woodbridge Victory Classic
San Clemente spots La Habra a 4-0 lead in first inning and can't catch up, losing, 4-2, in the Irvine tournament's third-place game.
After reaching the semifinals of the Gold Bracket at the Woodbridge Victory Classic Tournament, San Clemente High's softball team finally hit a wall and dropped its final two games Saturday to finish fourth in the 24-team field.
In the third-place game against La Habra, the Tritons fell into an early hole as the Highlanders scored four runs in the bottom of the first inning to take a 4-0 lead. A two-run triple by freshman outfielder Taylor Pierce highlighted the inning for the Highlanders.
Meanwhile, sophomore pitcher Vanessa Ciocatto kept the Tritons off-balance early as she retired the first nine batters she faced. The Tritons had a busy spring break with three games last weekend and then a midweek game at Pacifica before finishing the Woodbridge Tournament with two games on Saturday.
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“I think we were a little tired after the whole week,” senior infielder Kailey McCasland said.
After the rough first inning, San Clemente junior pitcher Summer Secrest settled in and held the Highlanders scoreless for the next four innings before being lifted in the bottom of the sixth inning. The Tritons' offense finally began to get to Ciocatto in the fourth inning.
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Sophomore outfielder Natalia Ybarra led off the top of the fourth with a walk. After Ybarra was advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by junior shortstop Danielle Weatherholt, McCasland delivered a hit through the left-center field gap for a two-run home run that cut the Highlanders' lead to 4-2. One out later, freshman outfielder Shannon McCasland singled for the second hit against Ciocatto.
In the fifth inning, the Tritons had consecutive two-out singles by junior outfielder Jourdan Kadow and Ybarra, but they were stranded on a deep fly out to center field. La Habra staged a two-out rally in the sixth to push the lead to 6-2 before closing out the game in the top of the seventh.
Earlier in the day, the Tritons had lost to M.L. King High of Riverside, 4-1, when their rally in the seventh inning ended with the bases loaded. Kadow started a two-out rally with a single that was followed by Ybarra reaching on an error. Weatherholt then singled to drive in Kadow and Kailey McCasland walked to load the bases. But King got a strikeout to end the game and advance to the title game, where it lost to Edison, 8-2, and finished second in the Gold Bracket.
