By: Ryan Erickson
Sports Editor
The Mustang softball team has had clutch performances from many different sources this season. The most recent of these came in the form of clutch hitting in the late innings with junior outfielder Montana Hunter against Atascadero High School at home on Tuesday in the second round of CIF playoffs.
Hunter hit a double that tied up the game in the bottom of the fifth inning and put the Mustangs back in line for a 10-8 victory. Mira Costa’s record moves to 24-7 on the year, and the Mustangs played the number-one team in the CIF-SS tournament, Chino Hills High School, yesterday on the road, but scores were unavailable due to the time of publication.
“I was trying to move the runners over and get my teammates into scoring position in my at-bat,” Hunter said. “I hit it well and fortunately was able to do my job and help the runners score.”
The Mustangs started the game off strong against Atascadero with senior pitcher Breanna Kelly striking out the first three batters of the game, and in the bottom half of the first, junior outfielder Taylor Glover hit a home run. Junior outfielder Nikki Gialketsis added to the rally with an RBI single to give Costa a 2-0 lead at the end of the first.
“This team has done a great job at scoring runs throughout the year,” coach Dick Amberick said. “Our underclassmen have also contributed very well overall to our team.”
In the next two innings, Atascadero battled back, scoring three runs on three Costa errors. However, Costa’s offense was sparked again by Glover, whose lead-off bunt single was soon followed by singles from senior catcher Katie Saunders, senior shortstop Meghan Von Behren, Gialketsis, freshman first baseman Ulufa Leilua and senior third baseman Stephanie Lajuenesse, bringing the lead 6-3 in favor of Costa.
“I was just trying to relax and let myself play the game naturally I saw the ball well today, and things worked out well,” said Glover, who went 4-4 with two doubles, a home run and a single.
After another three-run inning in the top of the fourth for Atascadero, Kelly was pulled in favor of junior pitcher Shannon Savino. After walking two batters, Savino was quickly replaced with freshman Kasey Hutton, who walked in two runs that put the Mustangs in an 8-6 hole.
“I was nervous when I first came into the game,” Hutton said. “I was able to settle down and get some outs for us.”
Costa staged its final comeback of the day in the bottom of the fifth, when Atascadero committed two consecutive fielding errors on slow-hit groundballs, putting runners on first and second. Hunter then pinch hit a two-run double and scored on the next play off an error by the Atascadero third baseman. The inning ended with the Mustangs leading, 10-8.
Hutton settled down for the top of the sixth and seventh innings and shut down the Atascadero hitters to end the game in a 10-8 Mustang victory.
“This team has excelled around a solid group of seniors,” Amberik said.
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