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RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA — Tesoro catcher Kennedy Proctor caught the victory-clinching strike from Loula-Rae McNamara and slammed the ball to the ground as she headed toward her teammates jumping near the circle.
The Titans, fueled by their underdog rallying cry, celebrated like never before on Monday.
McNamara, a left-handed freshman, tossed four scoreless innings of relief and drove in three runs and senior Kennedy Hobson homered and tripled as Tesoro defeated visiting St. Anthony 9-1 in the Division 3 semifinals to reach their first CIF-SS final since 2009.
.@SoftballTesoro headed to CIF D3 finals, 9-1 win v St Anthony! Titans to play top-seed Bonita @ocvarsity pic.twitter.com/Y1aptIt8Q9
— Dan Albano (@ocvarsityguy) May 17, 2022
Tesoro (20-11), champion of the Sea View League, will play top-seeded Bonita in the finals on Friday or Saturday at Bill Barber Park in Irvine. The Titans entered the playoffs without a postseason victory since 2016.
“It’s so amazing to have this chance to be in the CIF finals,” said an emotional Hobson, one of four senior starters for the Titans. “(It’s a) once-in-a-lifetime-type of thing.”
Tesoro, under fourth-year coach Leena Blake, surged in league and emerged this postseason from the shadows of softball-crazed South County. The Titans will join Mission Viejo, Sea View League runner-up El Toro and Capistrano Valley Christian in the finals.
“I just always feel like we’re the underdogs,” Blake said, “so I’m so proud of them. It gets me emotional.”
“Our chemistry just finally clicked,” she added.
Tesoro showed a united approach loading the bases with no outs in the first inning. McNamara drew a walk for a 1-0 lead.
Hobson extended the lead to 2-0 in the third with a two-out solo home run to left, her fourth of the season.
Tesoro scored three runs, all with two outs, in the fourth to seize control. Senior center fielder Jenna Nelson drove in the first with a single to center. McNamara followed with a two-run single.
Hobson fired three scoreless innings as the starter in the circle before being replaced in the fourth with runners at first and second and no out.
After seeing more velocity and effective curves and screwballs from Hobson, St. Anthony (16-10) faced an excellent change and drop from McNamara. “It works well,” McNamara said of her pairing with Hobson. “I’m not as fast as (Hobson). When I come in, (teams) are just so thrown off.”
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Tesoro also played strong defense. Shortstop Cadence Gilliliand and third baseman Allison Kloft — both juniors — made excellent plays as did McNamara, who leaped to snag a chopper for the first out in the seventh.
As the highlights built for Tesoro, the crowd grew as football and baseball teams left their practices to help surround the field. “It was a very nerve-racking a first but,” said Hobson, “it was kind of fun having fans.”