Softball: Spartans Cruise In Quarterfinals

It was the bottom of the sixth inning, and the La Cañada softball team was just having a ball.

The No. 1 Spartans laughed and joked amongst themselves. They casually cheered on the teammates that still remained in the game. Close your eyes, and the atmosphere would have sounded like just any run of the mill Rio Hondo League game. But this wasn’t some random game against South Pasadena.

This was the quarterfinals of the CIF-Southern Section Division 5 playoffs. This wasn’t the Tigers the Spartans were up against — this was Katella. But the Spartans made it look easy nonetheless, routing the Knights by a score of 8-1 Thursday to advance to the semifinals against South El Monte next Tuesday at

“We’re pumped,” Spartans senior Megan Siepler said. “I feel like we have a lot of confidence in ourselves right now.”

The Spartans were sure enough of their abilities not to get fazed by their first deficit in over a month. Katella jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first after senior Melissa Biddle hit a bloop single to left field to drive in a run.

The run — it was unearned --  was the first allowed by La Cañada senior Lauren O’Leary since April 27. O’Leary entered the game having tossed 42 consecutive scoreless innings. 

Katella presented a different kind of foe, however, than the Spartans’ previous opponents; a lineup that didn’t strikeout very often and entered the game with a .408 combined batting average.

O’Leary recovered to strikeout Marlee Minnich and Heather Salibury to end the inning with runners stranded at first and second, and the Spartans avoided a catastrophic beginning.

La Cañada (24-3) responded to load the bases in the first via two walks and a single against Salibury in the bottom of the first, but the Spartans were unable to score the equalizer. Salibury’s wildness became the theme of the night, though, and the Spartans capitalized on her inability to throw strikes in the bottom of the second.

Two walks and an error loaded the bases for sophomore Kelsey Drange with one out, and Drange lifted a bloop single to center to tie the game at one. Catherine Horner drew a walk on a 3-2 count to give the Spartans a 2-1 lead, and then Siepler delivered the fatal blow to Salibury and the Knights.

Siepler ripped a double past the Katella left fielder to clear the bases and extend the Spartans’ lead to 5-2. Siepler was thrown out at third trying to stretch her hit into a single, but she finished the game 2-for-2 with two doubles and four RBIs.

“We were a little nervous being down,” Siepler said. “So we were nervous, but we kept our composure. We told ourselves we were good hitters and we’ve been here before. So we were just concentrating on getting that pitch to drive. Just watching bad pitches go by which helped us get on base and getting the base hits when we needed to.”

Staked to a four-run lead, O’Leary cruised through the final five innings. She worked her way out of jams in the third and fourth innings by inducing ground balls back to the circle to start rally-ending double plays. She also finished the game with 10 strikeouts – an impressive feat considering the Knights (20-8) entered Thursday’s game with only 38 strikeouts in 27 games.

“That’s a very good hitting ballclub,” Spartans coach KC Mathews said. “To get 10 strikeouts against them. … They do a great job of putting the ball in play and hitting for some power and some pop. … That’s a testament to the job that Lauren did out there. That is a good hitting team.”

While O’Leary settled down to limit the Knights to one unearned run on five hits, Salibury had a hard enough time simply throwing strikes. Salibury finished with nine walks, four of which resulted in runs for the Spartans.

“She's been struggling,” Katella coach Melissa Graham said. “She has back problems. For her to be out there I'm super happy with her. I don't think she was fazed by them. Not to take anything away from them because they're a great team,”

The Spartans now have reached the semifinals for the second straight year. In 2010, their season ended with a 3-1 loss to South Hills, but the Spartans seemed poised to take their playoff run at least one step further this year.

“This is our year — we’ve been wanting it all year,” Siepler said. “We’ve been working for this since the beginning. We’re finally here we’re ready and we can’t wait to do it.”