SAN CLEMENTE — The softball was flying out of the stadium Wednesday during a CIF-SS Division 2 quarterfinal game between Huntington Beach and San Clemente.
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The two teams combined to hit five home runs, but San Clemente had the biggest homer of the bunch in a 9-7 win at San Clemente High.
San Clemente (22-7) plays the song “Bye Bye Bye” by NSYNC when the Tritons hit a home run and the song echoed particularly loudly when Peyton Stokes hit a go-ahead, three-run home run in the sixth inning.
“There was honestly nothing going on in my head,” said Stokes, who has signed with Idaho State. “I just knew my job was to get the ball to the right side and score these runs. This home run came at the perfect time and I’m glad that it did.”
San Clemente will play at Mater Dei in the semifinals Saturday.
The Tritons trailed by five runs twice in the game, but they scored seven runs in the final two innings. San Clemente trailed 7-2 entering the bottom of the fifth inning.
“I’m very proud of them,” San Clemente coach Elmer Roldan said. “They played as a team, never gave up, they dug their heels in and just battled.
“There was a chance we could have just rolled over and gave them the game, but we kept fighting and that’s what this team is. They are all heart.”
In the fifth inning, the Tritons’ Marley Readman hit a two-run home run to cut Huntington Beach’s lead to 7-4.
After singles by Stokes and Puka Iosua, Havyn Nekritz hit a sacrifice fly to cut the lead to two.
Weber State signee Emily Racine doubled to leadoff the sixth and Huntington Beach (20-11) had a fielding error on a sacrifice bunt to put runners on the corners.
After a walk and a fielder’s choice, Readman hit a sacrifice fly to make the score 7-6, setting the stage for Stokes to hit the go-ahead home run.
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“Every single, little thing happens, playing the small ball, reading their defense,” Roldan said. “That bunt was key where they dropped that ball and we capitalized on their mistakes. You just keep it simple and grind it out and everything counts.”
Huntington Beach took a two-run lead in the first inning when Cali Siguenza hit a run-scoring single and another run scored on a throwing error. Siguenza hit another RBI single in the third to make the score 3-0.
Stokes had an RBI single for San Clemente in the third but Huntington Beach answered with a three-run home run by Utah commit Bree Carlson to give the Oilers a 6-1 lead.
Racine and Siguenza exchanged solo home runs in the fourth and fifth innings, respectively.
Siguenza went 3 for 4 with a home run and three RBIs.
San Clemente pitcher Luca Cifuentes allowed a season-high 11 hits and six earned runs. But she retired the last nine hitters of the game after the Siguenza home run to lead off the fifth.
Cifuentes improved her record to 16-3 this season.
Stokes went 4 for 4 with a home run and four RBIs. Readman had three RBIs and Sydney Bishop scored three runs from the ninth spot in the lineup.
“The thing about this team is everybody can hit,” Roldan said. “Everybody earns. Everybody on that field today earned a spot, and anybody on that bench could come in at any time and take over as well. There’s a healthy competition on this team and we’re just keeping it rolling.”
Until this season, Huntington Beach had played in the Division 1 playoffs in each postseason since 2013. The Oilers were the third-place team from the Sunset League this season and beat Santa Fe and Camarillo in the first two rounds of the playoffs.
The Tritons have never reached a CIF-SS championship game, and they need a win Saturday to make it for the first time.
“I’m really excited to play Mater Dei,” Stokes said. “I know that if this team keeps doing what we are doing, we can win. We have the team to win and all we need to do is stay calm and do what we need to do.”
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