Photo gallery: CIF-SS Softball Quarterfinals
LA HABRA - The CIF-Southern Section quarterfinals have seemed like the La Habra High School softball team's breaking point in recent years.
But no more.
Shanin Thomas and Racquel Manzo had RBIs in the fourth inning and Taylor Pierce was dominant in relief and the host Highlanders advanced to their first CIF-SS semifinal since the 1980s with a 2-1 victory over No. 3 seed Dos Pueblos in a Division 4 quarterfinal on Thursday.
La Habra, also getting a solid five innings in the circle from Vanessa Ciocatto, improved to 23-8. The Highlanders, who lost to La Quinta in the quarterfinals last season, will travel to either Kaiser or Cerritos Valley Christian, who play today, in Tuesday's semifinals.
The finals are slated for Deanna Manning Stadium in Irvine, on June1 and 2. La Habra's last division title was in 1981, when it beat St. Joseph of Lakewood for the 3-A championship.
Dos Pueblos, which won the division last season, finished 25-4. Pitcher Hannah Harris gave up five hits and struck out six for the Chargers.
"It's been a while," La Habra coach Frank McCarroll said. "This time last year we were all in tears coming home from La Quinta, because we lost 2-1 on an error.
"We didn't want that to happen this year."
Thomas, who has signed with Michigan State and is one of the top infielders in the area, and Manzo, just a freshman, made sure of it by breaking up a pitchers' duel in the fourth inning with back-to-back hits.
Maleena Esparza, the reigning Daily News Player of the Year, started the rally by drawing her second walk. Thomas, who lined out in the first after Esparza walked, then came up big, lining a double to left-center field to score Esparza for a 1-0 lead.
Manzo, who had a key RBI double in the Highlanders' 6-5 victory over Ocean View in the second round, followed with a ground-ball single to center to easily score Thomas for a 2-0 lead.
"That's happened to me more times than I can count," Thomas said of watching opposing pitchers walk Esparza in front of her. "That's the biggest boost in the world.
"Walking someone in front of me shows no respect, so I'm going to show them they should walk me instead."
Ciocatto and Pierce took care of the rest.
Ciocatto kept Dos Pueblos at bay during the first five innings, giving up four hits with five strikeouts. She pitched out of two early jams, including striking out the side after Haley Peterson singled and stole second to lead off the second.
But the junior settled down to retire seven of nine between the third and fifth innings before Kai Uyesaka homered to lead off the sixth and cut it to 2-1.
Enter Pierce, who has proven to be a good change of pace from Ciocatto in the late innings.
The sophomore, who pitched two perfect innings in the victory over Ocean View on Tuesday, gave up a single to Chloe Madill before striking out Agnetta Cleland, Peterson and Cassie Davis to keep the 2-1 advantage.
Pierce, who had five strikeouts, then struck out Alyssa Lewis and Monica Salas to begin the seventh before giving up a pop single to Harris. But she induced Uyesaka to pop out to Thomas at third to end it.
"She throws hard and is a nice complement to Vanessa," McCarroll said. "We were trying to keep her a secret for the late rounds (of the playoffs).
"I don't think they were ready for the heat that she brought in the sixth and seventh."
The ending was especially rewarding for Thomas, who committed the error that resulted in last season's quarterfinal loss at La Quinta.
"It feels great, especially since last year I threw the ball away," she said. "It's just great to get past (this round).
"Being a senior, I feel like this is our season. It's cool to get that final out. You get the best feeling. It's my team, and I want to lead them to the championship."
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