Announcement
PREP SOFTBALL: Torrey Pines advances with win over Fallbrook
Torrey Pines High's Taylor Lee delivers a pitch against Fallbrook on Tuesday. BILL WECHTER | bwechter@nctimes.com
CARMEL VALLEY ---- Seeded No. 1 in the CIF San Diego Section Division I softball playoffs, Torrey Pines High coach Jon Moore was rather direct before Tuesday's third-round game with Fallbrook.
"We got ourselves in a little bit of a pickle," Moore said.
The Falcons lost on Saturday to slip into the losers' bracket of the double-elimination tournament, facing elimination in every game.
But Torrey Pines turned a negative into a positive Tuesday, getting a strong pitching performance from Taylor Lee and clutch hitting from Kelsey Buchanan, Lauren Hynes, Lee and Shelbianne Evans to beat Fallbrook 5-2.
Lee (7-3) had a no-hitter through five innings.
Torrey Pines, which won its 28th game to tie a school record, advances to Thursday's fourth round, playing No. 2-seeded Mira Mesa at 3 p.m. at the Poway Sportsplex in an elimination game.
A win at 3 p.m. would put the Falcons into the semifinals at 7 p.m. against the loser of the Carlsbad-Poway game.
"We're turning this into a positive," Moore said. "If we can beat Mira Mesa, we'll have some momentum, get 2½ hours off, then play a team that lost the 5 p.m. game and has to turn around and play right away.
"I like that scenario."
The scenario for Fallbrook this season was a successful one.
The Warriors finished 21-13 and made the playoffs for the first time in a decade.
"We made great progress this season," said Fallbrook co-coach Patti Drew, who works with Shannon Koran. "We only have four seniors on the team, we won a playoff game and played Torrey Pines tough.
"We forced them to bring in (Rachel) Nasland to get out of a jam. That showed they respected us.
"These are all things we can build on."
With Torrey Pines leading 3-0, Fallbrook's April Mattson started the sixth with a bunt single to break up Lee's no-hitter, and Hailey Drew followed with a single to left.
Moore then summoned Nasland, a 15-game winner. A Lizzy Hutzer single scored two and cut the Falcons' lead to 3-2.
Torrey Pines answered with two runs in the bottom of the sixth on a two-RBI double by Evans, a freshman catcher.
"I didn't want to come out in the sixth, but Rachel is so good," Lee said. "Coach made the right move, and Rachel took care of business..
"I like pitching in these kinds of games. I like the pressure, the adrenaline rush."
With the possibility of two games Thursday and a title game Saturday, Lee could be in the pressure cooker again.
"We have three legit pitchers ---- Nasland, Lee and Lauren Hynes ," Moore said. "Lee is going to California, Hynes is going to Boston University, and Nasland (a junior) has committed to Notre Dame.
"So if we can score two or three runs, we feel pretty good about our chances. Our playoff loss was 2-1 to Carlsbad, so we just need a little more. We run a lot (the Falcons have 106 stolen bases this season). That's part of our offense.
"Pitching and clutch hitting has been a good formula all season. Now we need to make it work three more times."
