GARDEN GROVE – The first batter of the game hit a home run.
And that was all of the offense for the day.
Annabel Raftery’s home run and Liliana Escobar’s pitching carried JSerra to a 1-0 win over Pacifica on Wednesday in a CIF Southern Section Division 1 softball playoff game at Pacifica High.
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Raftery’s homer, her 11th of the season, was the Lions’ only hit of the game.
JSerra (23-8) will play at Norco (27-2) in the semifinals Saturday. The scheduled starting time is 3:15 p.m.
Norco beat Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks, 8-0, in the quarterfinals. JSerra has played Norco twice this season, getting a 2-0 win and taking a 2-1 loss.
Pacifica (19-11) tied El Modena and La Habra for the Crestview League championship this season. A “Crestview League Champions” banner was on display in left field Wednesday.
Escobar, a right-handed senior who is committed to Florida, allowed three hits and struck out 10 without a walk. She improved her record to 16-5. Escobar has 238 strikeouts in 139 innings this season.
Pacifica junior pitcher Shay Kletke was outstanding, too. She walked only two batters in her seven innings.
Raftery, who bats left, smacked a waist-high pitch for a high fly ball that cleared the center field fence by a few feet. It was her 19th RBI of the season.
When first asked about her home run Raftery said, “I was just looking for a strike to hit right there.”
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Then a teammate off to the side said, “She’s always looking for a home run.”
Back to Raftery … is that true? You’re always up there looking for a home run?
“Yes,” she said, smiling.
Raftery is the JSerra catcher. She was impressed by her teammate Escobar.
“She was throwing hard,” Raftery said. “Her rise ball was on.”
JSerra had a runner on third base later in the first inning and also had the bases loaded in the third inning but did not score. Kletke retired the final 13 batters she faced.
Pacifica loaded the bases in the sixth inning. The Mariners’ Mikela Carey sent a high fly to right field that JSerra’s Anneke Lukowski ran down and made the catch.
The Mariners’ Mattea Stern led off the bottom of the fourth with a single, stole second base and advanced to third on Natalie Pacheco’s sacrifice bunt. Escobar struck out the following two batters to end the inning.
JSerra coach Katie Stith said Wednesday’s outing was among Escobar’s best of the playoffs.
“Her ball had a little more bite today,” Stith said. “Her rise ball especially.”
Stith is in her eighth season coaching JSerra. This Lions team has a distinct personality, she said.
“This is a group of ‘fun,’” Stith said. “They want to play loose, they want to have an ice cream truck, they want to play kickball. If I want them to be at their best, they’ve got to play loose.”
One swing and one outstanding pitcher has this fun group playing in the Division 1 semifinals.