Los Alamitos softball ousted by Orange Lutheran in CIF semifinal

LOS ALAMITOS >> High school softball offenses are improving around the country, but on Tuesday in the CIF Southe Section Division 1 semifinals at Los Alamitos High, two pitchers proved there’s still a role to be played by aces in the circle.

Los Alamitos junior pitcher Ryan Denhart and Orange Lutheran junior pitcher Maddy Dwyer battled quality lineups and only allowed a combined six hits. Two of them were run-scoring hits from the visiting Lancers, and they held on to win 3-0 to advance to their first CIF-SS championship game since they went to back-to-back finals in 2001-02. They will take on Mater Dei in an all-Trinity League championship.

Los Alamitos (26-3) and Orange Lutheran (30-3) combined to score over 400 runs in 60 games this season, but both ace pitchers were in control from the first iing when they each picked up an early strikeout.

Dwyer, a Stanford University commit, tossed a two-hitter with seven strikeouts and five walks. Denhart, a University of Maryland commit, also went the distance while giving up four hits and four walks.

More than a dozen players players in the game have NCAA Division 1 scholarship offers.

Two of Orange Lutheran’s four hits came from freshman Ciara Briggs, who drove in the first run with a single in the third iing, and then doubled in the fifth and scored on catcher Lauren Espalin’s fifth-iing two-out, two-run home run. Those were the only two extra-base hits of the game.

“I said before the game that the team to make the first mistake was going to lose, and unfortunately we made that mistake, and you can’t do that against a good team like them,” Los Alamitos head coach Rob Weil said of the error that started the third iing and allowed Briggs to drive in the first run. The other two runs given up by Denhart were eaed.

“(Dwyer) did a great job and (Denhart) hit her spots, but (Orange Lutheran) had a great scout on us and they executed their game plan,” Weil added. “They got the two big hits we didn’t get.”

Both Los Alamitos hits came from senior Jea Holcomb, but the center fielder was stranded on second base in the first and third iings. The Griffins brought the tying run to the plate after two walks in the bottom of the seventh iing, but Dwyer got a strikeout to end the game.

“I haven’t seen a pitcher shut down our offense like that, and she got to the heart of our order, which has been our bread and butter,” Weil said.

The Los Alamitos 3-4-5 hitters were a combined 0 for 9 with four strikeouts.

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“Los Alamitos is a very good team and a great program, so we had to keep the pressure on them,” Orange Lutheran head coach Steve Miklos said. “We did that by being patient.”

Thanks to that measured approach and a tight strike zone, Orange Lutheran was able to take Denhart deep into counts and wear down the hard-throwing junior. In 30 plate appearances, 20 Lancers saw four pitches or more.

Meanwhile, Dwyer purposefully started the game up in the zone to get the dangerous Griffins hitters on their toes. On the second and third time though the lineup, Dwyer spotted her fastball low in the zone and used her breaking ball to keep Los Alamitos off balance.

“(Dwyer) got us chasing and we couldn’t catch up,” Weil said.

Los Alamitos retus a solid core group of players next year, but will lose an accomplished senior class of Holcomb, Ariana Belarde, Amanda Schultz, Jade Loe, Allison Young and Amanda Nishihira.

“In my 26 years of coaching I don’t think I’ve had a better senior class,” Weil said. “I told the kids coming back to understand how crappy this feels. Now we just have to get one game further next year.”

PARACLETE 10, CALVARY CHAPEL DOWNEY 2 >> The defending champion Spirits (27-0) shut down the visiting Grizzlies (22-3) in a CIF-SS Division 6 semifinal on in Lancaster. Paraclete has outscored its playoff opponents 50-2.

The Grizzlies tied the score 2-2 in the fourth iing, but the Spirits responded with eight unanswered runs.