By Derryl Trujillo —
IRVINE (Deanna Manning Stadium) – Coming into last Saturday’s CIF-SS Division 6 softball championship game, the story was Hillcrest pitcher Mattison Beliveau and her impressive numbers this postseason. 61 strikeouts, in 26 innings, while only allowing four hits.
The question was whether Elsinore was up for the challenge of attacking a pitcher who amassed strikeouts at a rate of fifteen a game? They answered it with a resounding yes, but it wasn’t enough as Hillcrest prevailed 5-4 to win their first title in program history.
Beliveau said “Getting here is a dream and everything I always thought it would be but it wasn’t easy and at the end of the regular season I wasn’t sure we’d get here (after losing five in a row). It was definitely frustrating to see Elsinore hit me that hard, but I had to fight my way through it because I knew the offense would have my back.”
Isabel Villareal gave Hillcrest a quick 3-0 lead with a three-run homer (her 6th of the year) to right field as folks were just settling into their seats in the top of the first. Unphased by the early deficit, Elsinore went to work and slowly chipped away at it…scoring runs in the first (RBI triple from Mikayla Matamoros), second (RBI double by Kendall Proovost), and fourth to tie the game at three on a RBI single from Proovost.
Elsinore coach Jasmine Angello remarked through tears “The way they fought back today just showed how resilient they’ve been and how much pride they have in this program. We haven’t had a lot of success recently so as an alum to see us get this far I couldn’t be prouder of them…maybe this sparks a new era for Tiger softball?”
In the fifth Hillcrest took a second lead of 4-3 on an RBI single from Melody Acevedo which was answered as Alyssa Jimenez tripled to lead off the inning and scored on a wild pitch to tie the game at four.
However, in the top of the seventh Acevedo hit a two out solo home run (her 11th of the year) to right field, giving Hillcrest the lead for a third and final time, and Beliveau made sure that lead stood up with a strike out and two groundouts.
Acevedo said “That last ball felt really good, but I just couldn’t wait to get home and celebrate it with my team. We needed to be there for Mattie as an offense and have her back on a day where Elsinore was able to put runs on the board against her. A lot of folks pegged us as an underdog and said we weren’t supposed to get here so to do it and prove them wrong feels so good.”
Trojans coach Tony Carval added “After every inning I told Mattie that we were going with you the whole game and she was able to get some key outs on a day when Elsinore really hit the ball well against her. It’s a wonderful feeling to get here and bring a title home.”
With their finals appearance, Elsinore does advance to the CIF-State regional tournament which commences on May 31st.
WP: Beliveau, Mattie – CG, 4 runs, 7 hits, 11 K’s, 0 BB’s
LP: Logan, Nakiya – CG, 5 runs, 5 hits, 8 K’s, 2 BB’s
Leading Hitters:
Acevedo (H) 3-4 w 2 RBI & 2 runs scored, Matamoros (E) 2-3 w an RBI, Loftis (E) 2-3 w two runs scored, Proovost (E) 2-3 w two runs scored
Derryl Trujillo has been a sportswriter in the area since 2018 and is a 2019 winner of the IEBCA Supporter of the Year award. He can be reached by email at socaltrekkie@gmail.com.
