Beaumont Hosts Playoff Quarterfinal

Beaumont will be aiming for its 10th straight win during Thursday’s CIF-Southern Section Div. 4 quarterfinal against visiting Lompoc Cabrillo.

Beaumont (23-4) advanced into the quarterfinal via Tuesday’s 8-5 win at Los Angeles Marymount.  The second seeded Cougars opened the playoffs with a 4-1 win over Santa Ynez.

It’s the first quarterfinal appearance for the Cougars in at least five years. And it comes off a win in which Beaumont hit the ball well. The Cougars racked up 14 hits against Marymount, an effort that featured a big game by Stephanie Tickemyer – she opened the game with a leadoff home run and proceeded to go 5-for-5 at the plate with two RBI.

“I was very impressed with the way we played, especially with our hitting,” Beaumont coach Jim Tickemyer said. “We made some good adjustments in practice and really followed the game plan.”

The Cougars didn’t suffer any playoff jitters and played well from start to finish.

“In the first round we were nervous and we didn’t hit well,” Coach Tickemyer said. “In the second round we started off really strong and just kept it going.”

Beaumont, winner of 15 of its last 16 games, faces a Cabrillo team that is working on a win streak of its own.

The Conquistadores (18-11) have won seven straight games and qualified for the playoffs as the wild card entry out of the Los Padres League where it finished with an 8-4 record.

Cabrillo opened the playoffs with a wildcard 9-1 win over Montview League No. 4 La Puente and then recorded a pair of upset victories over Almont League champion Schurr (2-1) and Orange Coast League champion Calvary Chapel of Santa Ana (2-1).

Cabrillo is the lone Div. 5 wildcard qualifier remaining in the playoff bracket.

Thursday's game is set fora  3:15 p.m. start time at Beaumont High School.