IRVINE — The West Ranch softball team was one out away from a historic victory, but instead it was dealt a crushing blow.
St. Bonaventure tied the score in the bottom of the seventh with an RBI double by Maci Schotten and went on to beat the Wildcats, 8-7, in walk-off fashion Saturday in the CIF-SS Division 5 final at Deanna Manning Stadium.
With two outs in the eighth, the Seraphs’ Janessa Brown hit a ball into play that West Ranch shortstop Torrey Price had trouble securing. Her throw to first base was too late as Hallie Barlow crossed home plate for the win.
West Ranch coach Mike Merrilees told his players how proud they made him.
“We achieved so much this year,” he said. “We weren’t picked to be here, we weren’t even really picked to be in the playoff hunt. I’m proud of everybody here to do it on this type of stage, that type of game, in this type of atmosphere. I would have liked it scripted a little bit differently, but I’m proud. That’s the only word I can tell.”
The Wildcats (17-15) built a 6-0 lead thanks to a five-run third inning. Isabella Swanson and Madi Meister each had RBI hits in the frame and starting pitcher Gretchen Roen helped her cause with a two-RBI single.
St. Bonaventure (18-11) responded with five runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to tie the score 6-6.
The Wildcats took a 7-6 lead in the sixth thanks in part to a triple by Price. A sacrifice fly from Ava Esparza was hit deep enough to right field to bring Price home.
“I knew it wasn’t gonna be enough.” Merrilees said of the team’s 6-0 lead. “You know, we have a freshman pitcher (Roen) on the mound and had to kind of battle through the game. But I mean, they’re stacked with hitters too, so, hey kind of nitpick, nitpick, nitpick. At the end of the day, we had to go through their lineup a couple times, so it was definitely challenging.”
“Three games, four games now, (that have been decided) in the seventh or eighth inning, so they are definitely cardiac kids pulling out games like that coming back.” Seraphs coach Andy Gibson said of his team’s postseason run.
St. Bonaventure got a walk-off HR from Azaria Aguilar in the first round over Riverside Prep, beat Pasadena Muir 4-3 in the second round and also used a seventh-inning surge to defeat JW North.
“These girls never quit,” Gibson said. “They kept pushing each other. They kept saying, ‘We hit last. We hit last.’ So they really started believing in that. Like, we still got a chance.”
The win gave the Seraphs their first CIF title since 2021.
Roen pitched a complete game for the Wildcats.
“We’ve been riding her all year, so, yeah, it’s you know, that’s why we preach so much on defense,” Merrilees said. “Perfect defense. We’ve got to play perfect defense behind a freshman pitcher.”
West Ranch made its third appearance in a section final Saturday. It lost in the finals in 2019 and 2015.
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