Carlsbad falls short, loses to Corona Santiago in softball regionals

Nursing a precarious one-run lead after five innings, the decisive shark bite was finally delivered.

And Carlsbad High, the No. 4 seed in the Southern California Regionals, could not respond in time.

No. 5 Corona Santiago used Carlsbad’s lone error to score three runs, including two unearned runs, for a 4-0 victory Tuesday over the Lancers in a first-round softball game.

Santiago, now 16-15-2, advances to Thursday’s regional semifinals at No. 1-seeded Whittier California (21-8-2) at 4 p.m.

“That was tough,’’ Santiago coach Chris Cisneros said. “We adjusted a little to the pitcher and played our game.

“This is the first SoCal win for me as a coach.’’

Today, the celebration at Santiago also will include Graduation Day.

The Lancers are done for the softball season.

Carlsbad (19-9) did not get its first hit against Emily Delgado until the bottom of the sixth inning.

By then, the Sharks, who are now 8-6 on the road, led 4-0, and that was all the runs Delgado needed.

Delgado retired the first 16 Lancers she faced until Stella Roller, the ninth hitter in the Carlsbad lineup, singled to right-center.

With runners at second and third with two outs, Delgado induced a pop up to her to close out the would-be rally.

She finished with a three-hitter, no walks and four strikeouts, improving to 12-5.

Carlsbad’s starter, junior Abby Huhn, scattered eight hits with three walks and seven strikeouts to fall to 9-4.

“At the end of the day, that’s softball,’’ Carlsbad coach Jared Miller said. “We had a great season and we battled through some ups and downs.

“When we started the season, getting knocked out of the (Division 1) playoffs last year left a sour taste in everyone’s mouth.

“We wanted to get back in the Open Division and we did that.’’

The Lancers, who opened the season with five consecutive wins, fell one victory shy of reaching the Open finals in the San Diego Section playoffs, eventually won by top-seeded Poway.

Carlsbad’s only hits Tuesday came from Tiara Hill, Roller and Huhn.

“Sometimes,’’ said Miller, “it’s all there and sometimes it’s not.

“That’s just how softball is.

“Their pitcher had us on our heels all day. She was dealing all day and we just lost our energy.’’

Santiago took a 1-0 lead on a bases-loaded walk in the fifth inning.

But in the sixth inning, nine Sharks took turns until the fatal bite was inflicted with RBI singles by Delgado, Yasmine Garcia and, of course, that one error.

Delgado, Garcia and Cadence Magana all had two-hit games for Santiago.

Monahan is a freelance writer.