OCHS Lions defeated in CIF softball title game for second straight year

The Oaks Christian Lions softball team for the second straight year was defeated in the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Southern Section Division VI title game.

Last year, Oaks Christian’s inaugural year, the Lions were beaten by Linfield, 4-3.

This year, the second-year Oaks Christian program—coached by Pete Ackermann—again was in a tight game, tied 0-0 through five and one-half innings, but Faith Baptist rallied for two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning and held on despite a two-out Lions’ threat in the last inning.

The Faith Baptist Lady Contenders, who came into the game seeded second in the division behind the top-seeded Lions, finished the season at 27-7, while Oaks Christian closed at 29-5.

Oaks Christian had only freshmen and sophomores last year and its oldest classmates this season were juniors. Next year the Lions will have seniors for the first time when the softball team will move to Division IV as the school joins the Frontier League.

In the championship game at Barber Memorial Park in Irvine, Ashlee Freeman, a junior right-hand pitcher, and Faith Baptist’s senior right-hander Ivette Hernandez dueled to a scoreless tie until Hernandez helped her own cause with a two-run double to left-center field with one out in the sixth.

"This year, I knew that we were going to have more trouble because I know a lot of people on their team and they’re phenomenal players," said a disappointed Freeman after the game. "I knew I was going to have trouble pitching to them and I did. They hit me."

Freeman was unscathed until the bottom of the sixth when sophomore first baseman Jessica Velasquez hit a one-out blooper past Lions’ sophomore second baseman Tiffany Day for a single, and Any Rudolph, a junior second baseman, lined a single to center field to put runners on first and second.

Ahead of Hernandez 1 and 2, Freeman’s pitch got past Lions’ junior catcher Shannon Van Vorst and with runners at second and third after the wild pitch, the count was 2 and 2. Hernandez then lined Freeman’s offering into left-center field for a two-run double.

In the top of the seventh inning, Van Vorst drew a base on balls and after a force out, Bryanne Fitzgerald,a freshman center-fielder, doubled into left-center field. The Lions had runners on second and third with two outs, but Hernandez and Faith Baptist held on, retiring the final batter on a strikeout.

"It’s pretty disappointing because next year we’re moving up two divisions, so it’s going to be really, really hard," Freeman said. "Who knows if we’ll get here again?"

Freeman and fellow junior right-hander Sara Radabaugh had combined to form a nearly unbeatable pitching duo this year. Against Faith Baptist, Ackermann stayed with Freeman the whole way.

"I knew my arm was really tired," Freeman said, "but when your adrenaline’s pumping, you think you can tough it out and do fine. I tried to and it didn’t work."

Ackermann said the opposing pitcher earned the win for Faith Baptist, adding that Oaks Christian’s schedule might not have prepared the Lions for such a tough hurler.

"Our pitchers got the publicity but that kid (Hernandez) is really a competitor," Ackermann said. "She might not have thrown as hard (as Freeman), but she competed every bit as good as anybody we’ve seen all year. And rightfully so, she deserved to win this ballgame."

About the tough pitching opposition, the Lions’ coach added, "Sometimes, in Division VI, up until the final or semifinal game, we don’t see outstanding pitching, and today she kept us a little bit off stride. I think they (Faith Baptist) faced a little bit more quality pitching this year and it showed." Although they’ll play in a higher division next year, Ackermann said teams such as Oaks Christian and Faith Baptist can compete after moving up.

"I think us and Faith Baptist could play with a lot of other teams," said the Lions’ coach. "When you’re good, it doesn’t make any difference what division you’re in. Faith (Baptist) proved that today."

Ackermann said he encouraged his players to keep the game in perspective, to not dwell on the loss but to appreciate the process that got the team where it was.

"It’s human nature to be disappointed when you fall a couple of runs short, one last year, two this year," he said. "What I tell the girls is, ‘Enjoy the journey of the year.’ Sometimes the destination isn’t what you want it to be, but if you enjoy the whole journey, that’s what makes it important."