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IRVINE — Villa Park’s Madden Tucker highlighted a six-run fifth inning with a go-ahead, two-run single and Yorba Linda’s Madalyn Martin pitched a strong final two innings to help the East defeat the West 7-3 in the 25th Orange County Softball Coaches Senior All-Star Classic on Wednesday at Deanna Manning Stadium.
The East used three two-run hits in the fifth to erase a 3-1 deficit and capitalize on four walks in the inning.
Santa Margarita’s Brinkley Jankanish sparked the outburst with a two-run triple to right center to tie the score 3-3.
After two walks loaded the bases with two outs, Tucker delivered a go-ahead two-run single to center.
Esperanza’s Taylor Shumaker, The Register’s Orange County Player of the Year, stepped to the plate next and drove in two more runs with a single to center.
“It felt great to be part of a team with such amazing players,” said Tucker, a catcher bound for Division II Converse University in South Carolina. “It was so great to see everyone work together instead of against each other.”
Second hit for Shumaker, two RBIs, and it’s East 7-3 after 5th inning pic.twitter.com/xYBMXDCwmb
— Dan Albano (@ocvarsityguy) June 6, 2024
The East’s pitchers united to keep the West’s offense mostly quiet in the ninth-inning game.
Martin, a senior bound for Long Beach State, didn’t allow a hit in the eighth and ninth innings, struck out two and walked one.
Sunny Hills shortstop Olivia Pedraza charged a grounder and flashed her quick release to record the final out in eighth.
“The adrenaline rush was crazy,” Martin said of closing the game. “Facing the bottom (of the lineup) and then the top was definitely different. It was a surreal moment for me.”
The East also receiving strong pitching from starter Brianne Weiss of Orange Lutheran (game-high four strikeouts in two innings), Garden Grove’s Kayden Connaty (one inning), Northwood’s Riley Bajorek (two innings) and Foothill’s Lauren Mendez.
Mendez retired all six baters she faced sixth and seventh. Bajorek struck out two batters in the fifth.
The East’s five pitchers limited the West to four hits.
Shumaker, a center fielder bound for Florida, went 2 for 2 with two RBIs, a run scored and stolen base.
Orange Lutheran catcher Zara Mineo-Schrank drove in Shumaker with a first inning single.
Tesoro catcher Kennedy Proctor had a leadoff double in the third for the West. The hit led to a RBI sacrifice fly Los Alamitos’ Bella Rodriguez that plated Quinn Southerland of Capistrano Valley to knot the score 1-1.
Proctor also threw out Shumaker on an attempted steal for the final out of the fifth.
El Toro’s Kylie Loertscher and Mission Viejo’s Sofia Elliott each pitched two scoreless innings for the West.
Aliso Niguel’s Randie Baldwin helped coach the West while also remembering the impact of the late Taylor Dockins, a record-setting pitcher who recently died from a rare form of cancer. Baldwin was an assistant coach at Norco when Dockins starred for the Cougars before playing at Cal State Fullerton.
“Great kid, super competitive and just the perspective she had with cancer — it’s like wow,” Baldwin said. “Super positive and just trusting in the Lord.”
“It’s tough,” Baldwin added of the death of Dockins. “It really impacted the softball community — high school, travel, college.”
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