April 22, 2025
By Loren Kopff • @LorenKopff on X
La Mirada High lost a 2-0 lead to California High after half an inning and a 3-2 lead going to the bottom of the eighth inning last Saturday in the semifinals of the La Mirada Classic at Jennie Finch Field. But the Matadores made sure not to lose another one-run lead in the ninth inning.
With runners at first and second with none out, sophomore pitcher Alison Ortega got Bella Esparza to flyout, then got Emily Olguin and Sophia Urena to swing on 0-2 pitches as La Mirada extended its winning streak to 15 straight wins at the time with a 4-3 win over the Condors. It was the first extra inning victory for the Matadores, who now have won two of three games decided by a run.
“That’s why we run the tournament later in the year,” said La Mirada head coach Brent Tuttle. “It’s a late tournament; most tournaments are already done by now. We run this up and I have to look, but I would say at least 80 percent of the teams in this tournament are going to make the playoffs, and they come out here knowing they’re going to get good games. And that’s what we want; to play good games late. This tournament also helps us prepare for the playoffs.”
On the third pitch of the game, senior shortstop Amanda Urbina doubled to center and sophomore first baseman Reese Hilliard reached on the first of three errors by the Condors. Two batters later, senior third baseman Angelyna Conde singled to left to load the bases. Then on the fourth pitch she saw from Pricilla Ramirez, senior second baseman Alyssa Avila laced a single to the right field gap to bring in Urbina and Hilliard. After senior left fielder Angelina Ratzlaff reached on a fielder’s choice, Ramirez retired the next 13 batters she faced.
“I would say [Ramirez] and their defense…we hit some balls solid and there were some great plays,” said Tuttle. “You can’t get mad when we have the bases loaded or there’s two on and we’re hitting hard line drives. I mean, it is what it is; they caught them, and we had to go out there and play defense.”
While La Mirada’s potent offense was stymied for the next four innings, California was doing all it could to get back into the game. With one out in the bottom of the first inning, senior pitcher Montserrat Reyes-Cardenas walked Jessica Gurule and Mia Martinez before leaving the game in favor of Ortega. Both runners would advance on a wild pitch before a groundout from Shirley Acevedo allowed Gurule to touch home plate.
Ortega then retired nine of the next 10 batters she faced before Esparza smacked a home run over the centerfield fence to tie the game. Olguin would single to left on the next pitch, but Ortega got Urena to ground back to her to end the threat. In the sixth, a lead-off single from Martinez was followed by a double play, and a two-out infield hit in the seventh by Urena was wasted when Ortega got Lauren Trivino to groundout.
With one out in the eighth and sophomore right fielder Megan Avila standing on second per the international tiebreaker rules, Hilliard reached on an error as Avila scored to make it 3-2. But in California’s half of the inning, Trivino tied the game on a wild pitch. Then in the ninth and sophomore pinch runner Jasmine Rodriguez at second, Avila was safe on an infield single and moved to second on an error. That was followed by a base hit to right from Ratzlaff, who delivered the game winner. Still, the Matadores stranded six runners while the Condors left one more on the basepaths.
“You never want to leave runners on,” said Tuttle. “But it’s a whole different lineup today. We were missing two key starters who are batting .300 and .400. Right now, that’s eight home runs out of our lineup.”
Ortega, as she has been all season, was remarkable, throwing 125 pitches in over eight innings, walking out one and striking out nine as she improved to 9-2 this season. It was the fourth time she has had to come in relief for Reyes-Cardenas to have an impact on the outcome as the other three times resulted in two saves and one victory.
“She’s grown so much this year, and she wants the ball every time,” said Tuttle of Ortega. “You like it when you have two pitchers who want the ball, and Ali was ready. Every game, we make sure both pitchers are ready to go.”
The Matadores would see their winning streak snapped later that evening by Orange Lutheran High, which was all over Reyes-Cardenas in a 13-3 victory. It was the second time this season that La Mirada (20-4) had fallen to the Lancers. The other time was in the Dave Kops Tournament of Champions on Mar. 7, a 5-4 decision which was the last time the Matadores had lost until last Saturday.
La Mirada will be off until Tuesday when it travels to Paramount High as Gateway League action resumes. Then it will host Gahr High on Thursday with the league title on the line. The final regular season game will be on May 6 at Mayfair High.
“The break is coming at a right time,” said Tuttle. “You could tell we’re tired. We haven’t been hitting like we normally hit. So, I think the girls need some time off. It’s just that Spring Break is so far late this year. That’s kind of why we did the tournament where we [did], otherwise we would have had two weeks where we didn’t play. So we’re looking forward to this break.”
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