The Los Alamitos High softball team had a shaky start but after they settled in the Griffins rolled to a 7-3 win over Long Beach Wilson in the first round of the CIF-SS playoffs on Thursday at Los Alamitos High.
Sophomore pitcher Brianna Jewett came in in the second inning and ended up pitching six innings with two runs allowed and three strikeouts to get the win.
Meanwhile the offense needed a couple of innings to zero in on Wilson pitcher Joette Vega, but soon had their plan.
“She didn’t throw a lot of off-speed pitches and we talked about that,” Griffin catcher Mary Iakopo said.
Iakopo had a home run to lead off the top of the sixth inning to spark a three-run sixth that turned a 4-3 Griffin lead into a 7-3 advantage going into the seventh inning. Junior Cami Sellers followed the home run with a double.
Pinch-runner Allison Young went from first to third on a ground out and then scored on a single by Alexa Schultz.
One out later, Schultz scored on a groundout that capped the three-run inning.
The Griffins had fallen behind 3-1 going into the bottom of the third inning, but responded immediately.
Senior outfielders Ariana Belarde and Jenna Holcomb led off the third with consecutive singles.
Junior outfielder Jenna Kean then brought them both home with a triple.
Holcomb scored on a sacrifice fly by junior infielder Andrea Gonzalez, as the Griffins took their 4-3 lead and kept the Bruins scoreless the rest of the way.
Griffin coach Rob Weil said the team seemed a little out of sorts, possibly pressing too much, so he opted to make the early pitching change.
He also said the offense was chasing pitches and needed to settle in and make the pitcher work more.
“We said we just need to be a little more patient and hit out pitches,” Weil said.
The Griffins will play Chino High in the second round at 3:15 p.m. on Tuesday at Chino High.