Late rally falls short for Pirates in loss to Chargers

COSTA MESA -- A late offensive burst by the Orange Coast College softball team wasn't enough against the defending state champs as visiting Cypress College held on for a 9-4 win over the Pirates on Thursday at the Pirate Softball Stadium.

Trailing 9-0 heading into the bottom of the sixth, the Pirates (18-11, 8-5 in the Orange Empire Conference) mustered up some hard contact against Cypress starter Kaitlyn Reynolds, who had been lights out for the first five frames.

Natalie Lowthers started the sixth with a line-drive double to left-center and she advanced to third on a bad-hop single to shortstop off the bat of Jasmyn Morales. Lydia Gonzalez stepped up and singled to center, which scored Lowthers and put the Pirates on the scoreboard.

Melissa Hanson was then hit by a pitch to load the bases with still nobody out.

A line-drive off the bad of Anaiyah Yniguez was caught for the first out, before Lexia Martinez came through with an RBI-single to center to score Morales, cutting the deficit to 9-2. Kileah Lologo made it 9-3 with a run-scoring fielder's choice before McKenzie Koshi capped off the four-run rally with an RBI-single to left which scored Hanson on the play.

But that's where the rally stalled for the Pirates as the Cypress pitching duo of Reynolds and reliever Alexis Montez kept the Pirates off the scoreboard in the seventh to preserve the win.

Reynolds was a one-person show for the Chargers (26-6, 11-3), pitching 6 2/3 innings to pick up her 24th win of the season and helped her own cause at the plate, going 4-for-4 with a run and four RBI. 

Lowthers went 2-for-4 with a run scored, while Koshi added two hits and an RBI for the Pirates. Coast starter Ruby Fidge battled a tough Cypress lineup and allowed only five earned runs over seven innings.

Game 3 of this three-game series will take place on Friday at 2 p.m. at Cypress College. OCC's next home game will be on Thursday against Santa Ana, also at 2 p.m.