Tolfa turns tide for CdM

Chris Yemma

With near perfection continuously gracing the mound at TeWinkle Park,

a minor aberration proved to be a fortuitous factor for the Corona

del Mar High softball team.

And as the shadows stretched longer Tuesday, an unearned run in

the bottom of the first inning came back to haunt Calvary Chapel of

Santa Ana, as the Sea Kings pulled out a 1-0 Pacific Coast League

victory behind the pitching of Michelle Tolfa.

Tolfa tossed a complete-game shutout with just one hit and two

walks while striking out 14, statistically edging Eagles’ pitcher

Sarah Hughes’ two-hit performance with two strikeouts and four walks.

Tolfa, who was also 2 for 3 at the plate, accounting for CdM’s

only two hits, gave up the solo hit in the bottom of the seventh

inning, in between three strikeouts.

“[Corona del Mar] has had the best pitching we have seen so far

this season,” Calvary Chapel Coach Sarah Herrera said. “Overall,

pitching-wise, they’ve been one of the best teams we’ve faced.”

It was also what Tolfa described as her best performance this

season, although a couple of no-hitters last year top her

best-pitching list, she said.

“I always tend to do worse in the last inning,” said Tolfa, who

improved to 10-6 on the season with 129 strikeouts and a 1.40 ERA. “I

can’t really close a game, but I tried and we only got one hit

[against us].”

Tolfa, who also leads the team with a .426 hitting average,

retired the side in three of the seven innings while stretching it to

just four batters in the rest of the innings. She whiffed the side in

the second inning.

Her hitting also proved to be vital in the win. She advanced

sophomore Allie Duernberger to third on a line drive to center in the

first inning, putting Duernberger in position to score the go-ahead

run. And on the next batter, Calvary committed the error on a bobbled

fielding play, allowing Duernberger to score the eventual

game-winning run.

“She’s been pretty clutch for us this year, pitching and hitting,”

Sea Kings’ Coach Nichole Thompson said. “She’s been very consistent

on both sides of the field.”

Tolfa drilled a similar hit in the fifth inning in her third

at-bat, and drew a walk during her second at-bat to tally a perfect

on-base percentage and help lead the Sea Kings (10-7, 1-1 in league)

to a fourth win in five tries.

Calvary Chapel (6-9, 0-2) lost its seventh straight and must play

Corona del Mar again, this time on the Sea Kings’ turf at 3:15 p.m.

Thursday.

CdM, unknowing of what the eventual outcome would be Tuesday, was

looking for an insurance run and just missed getting one with premier

execution in the fourth inning.

Senior Heather Lohrman reached base on an error, and junior Andrea

Dort followed with a perfect little-ball move, sacrificing Lohrman to

second with a bunt. Junior Katie Schulte then worked the count from

0-and-2 to draw a walk to give CdM two runners on and one out. But a

groundout and a strikeout quickly followed, keeping the lead marginal

for the Sea Kings.

“[Tuesday] I would have expected a little bit more -- we should

have scored a couple more runs,” Thompson said. “But as far as the

season is going, it’s going pretty well.”

Pacific Coast League

Corona del Mar 1,

Calvary Chapel 0

Score by Innings

*--*

CdM 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 1 2 0

Calvary 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 1 2

*--*

Tolfa and Schulte; Hughes and Gervais. W -- Tolfa, 10-6. L --

Hughes.