Advertisement

Edison falls short of league title

Share

HUNTINGTON BEACH – Kendra Wood took pause afterward, searching for that little something extra to say. The Edison assistant softball coach was attempting to describe a key sequence that occurred - or rather, never materialized, for the Chargers, during the middle stages of their Thursday showdown against Los Alamitos.

“That fourth inning, not being able to get it done...” Wood said, before tailing off and going silent.

“We just needed that extra hit, that sacrifice fly,” she continued, still trying to sum up a crucial turning point in the game that came in the fourth inning. “Something. Anything.”

Advertisement

In a game that determined the 2012 Sunset League champion, it was Los Alamitos which emerged with the crown. The Griffins led the entire way but had to fend off two big threats by the Chargers late, to come away with a 3-2 victory at Edison.

The outcome put the Griffins at 9-1 in league and 22-6 overall. Edison ended league play in second place at 8-2 and went to 23-4 on the year.

The Chargers fell behind, 3-0, but pulled to within 3-2 and had a golden opportunity to further cut into their deficit by loading the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the fourth. But they couldn’t come up with that “something,” as Wood put it. Consecutive ground balls to second base resulted in two forced outs at home plate, and a fly out to shallow right field, left the Chargers empty.

Edison also put the tying and go-ahead runs on first and second base with one out in the bottom of the sixth, yet again couldn’t bring home either runner.

“It’s a game of execution, and we didn’t execute today,” said Edison head coach Josh Musselman whose team dropped its second, one-run game in league play to Los Al.

The Griffins won the first meeting between the teams, 2-1, on April 24.

“We were coming off a big win at Marina and felt good going into today’s game,” he said. “We just didn’t produce when we needed to. We had our chances.”

It was an uphill battle from the start for Edison which fell behind, 1-0, when a grounder to second base with two out and bases loaded in the top of the second, was bobbled by the Chargers’ Megan Feuerstein.

The Griffins scored on the play to lead, 1-0. Their advantage grew to 3-0 in the third inning when clean-up hitter Mattie Scheele hit a two-run home run over the fence in left field.

Edison got to within 3-2 in the bottom of the third when, with two out, junior Karley Wester, batting in the No. 2 slot, took a 1-0 pitch over the left field fence for a two-run home run. Her blast scored her sister Ali, a freshman and the Chargers’ lead-off who hit a two-out single.

Edison started its fourth-inning rally with consecutive singles by seniors Madison Hickman and Casey Africano before senior Jessica Plaza drew a walk to load the bases.

Los Al starter Halle Humphrey then got Feuerstein and Carissa Sherman to hit consecutive grounders to the right side of the infield, and each was scooped up by second baseman Megan Geer who on both occasions threw to home to get the force out. Humphrey then got pinch hitter Sammy Cordova to fly out to shallow right field to get out of the jam.

Humphrey was replaced at the start of the bottom of the fifth by Andie Formby and the sophomore sent the Chargers down in order in both the fifth and seventh innings. In addition to putting runners on base in the bottom of the sixth, Edison had life with two out in the seventh when Karley Wester beat out an infield grounder for a single. The junior attempted to steal second on the play, but was thrown out at second, to end the game.

“Karley Wester had a great game, and I’m very proud of her,” Musselman said of his third baseman who finished with two hits.

“It’s a tough one,” Wood said of the loss. “With a team like Los Al, you don’t want to get too far behind. But we have offense, and I’m confident in our offense. We fought back, and we were real close. It’s a game of inches.”

Both Los Al and Edison will compete in the CIF-Southern Section Division 1 playoffs starting next week. The divisional pairings will be released Monday.

“It’s a new beginning for us,” Musselman said. “CIF is just around the corner.”

michael.sciacca@latimes.com

Twitter: @MikeSciacca

Advertisement