Oaks Christian softball earns berth to regional final with walk-off victory over Mission Viejo
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WESTLAKE VILLAGE — It took Oaks Christian leadoff hitter Liesl Osteen four tries before she got on base. She struck out her first three at-bats. Not only did she get on base on her fourth at-bat, she got to second on a double. However, getting to third base came with some controversy.
The lean, athletic junior sprinted from second and slid into third for a successful steal with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning of a CIF State SoCal Regional Division I semifinal with the game knotted at one apiece against Mission Viejo. The third base umpire called Osteen safe on the slide, but Mission Viejo coach Clint Watson did not agree.
“I went out (onto the field) and asked the umpire to ask for help from his partner,” Watson explained. “He wouldn’t do it. I saw a tag. I felt like in a big game like that, he let his ego get in the way. He literally told me he ‘didn’t want to get shown up.’ I was pretty upset about that.”
Minutes later, Nani Arreola hit a ground ball that allowed Osteen to scamper home and win the game in walk-off fashion, giving the Oaks Christian softball team a 2-1 victory over Mission Viejo at home Friday afternoon.
“I told (Osteen), ‘You’re the fastest kid on the team, get there,’ ” Oaks Christian coach Pete Ackermann said of the winning run. “I told Nani, ‘Anything on the ground,’ and she did it.”
The win improves the Lions to 33-1 this season and earns them a berth in the regional final at No. 1 Roosevelt Saturday at 4 p.m. Roosevelt won the CIF Southern Section Division 1 champion by taking down Los Alamitos 5-4 on May 21.
“I’m beyond proud of this team,” Ackermann said. “I was proud before they won today.”
WALK OFF: Nani Arreola’s hard-hit grounder scores Liesl Osteen to give Oaks Christian a 2-1 victory over Mission Viejo in the B7. Micaela Kastor pitched a complete game with 10 Ks. Lions will play at No. 1 Roosevelt in the DI regional final Saturday afternoon. pic.twitter.com/93TqVKj1oV
— Tarek Fattal (@Tarek_Fattal) June 3, 2022
It was a great pitching battle between Oaks Christian’s Micaela Kastor (a Notre Dame signee) and Mission Viejo sophomore standout Sofia Elliott. Kastor threw a complete game, struck out 10, allowed just two hits and walked three.
“I told her after the game, she’s legit,” Watson said of Kastor. “She’s a competitor.”
Elliott also went the distance, striking out nine, allowing five hits and walking seven. Mission Viejo (27-6), this year’s CIF-SS Division 2 champion, was selected to move up in the regional playoffs and compete in Division I, which was a task welcomed by Watson and his club.
“That level competition is nothing new to us,” said Watson. “We competed and that’s all we can ask for. I’m proud of these girls.”
End of 1: Oaks Christian 1, Mission Viejo 0. MV’s Sofia Elliott gets out of the inning with a strikeout and the bases loaded. Oaks’ run came from an RBI single from Nani Arreola. pic.twitter.com/zlmY4EoErk
— Tarek Fattal (@Tarek_Fattal) June 3, 2022
Arreola, who went 2 for 3 with two RBIs, hit an RBI single in the first inning to score Justine Lambert to give the Lions a 1-0 lead. In the fourth inning, Elliot helped her own cause with a solo home run to the tie the game at 1-1.
Oaks Christian fell to Los Alamitos in the CIF-SS Division 1 semifinals, but now gets a second shot at championship hardware Saturday after sitting around waiting for the regional playoffs to start.
Kastor, who is now 23-1 from the circle this season, will surely be the one to lead these Lions against top-seeded Roosevelt.
“They deserve it,” Ackermann said.
BASEBALL TOO
The Oaks Christian baseball team, which won the CIF Southern Section Division 3 title a couple of weeks ago, will host fifth-seeded Newport Harbor (21-12) in the CIF State SoCal Regional Division III final Saturday at 4 p.m.
The second-seeded Lions (23-11), led by former major league player Royce Clayton, rallied to beat Francis Parker of San Diego 6-5 in the opening round of the regional playoffs before beating Grossmont 4-2 in the semifinals Thursday.
Clayton’s son, Elijah, who is a sophomore, leads the team in hits this season with 40.