Postseason jitters slowed Beaumont down during its CIF-Southern Section Div. 5 softball opener on Thursday.
But those jitters couldn’t stop the Cougars. The Mountain Pass League champion opened the postseason with a 4-1 win over visiting Santa Ynez.
“We came out and I think the girls were a little nervous,” Beaumont coach Jim Tickemyer said. “I could see the tension. It was the first playoff game. We have high expectations and everyone around us has high expectations of us.”
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Beaumont (22-4) swept through the MPL, winning 14 of its 15 games, and garnered the Div. 5 No. 2 seed. Throw in a seven game win streak and the Cougars couldn’t help but be anxious to get the playoffs started.
“We were all nervous,” Cougar catcher Bernadette Moreno said. “We just had to calm it all down. Then we just focused on the game.”
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The Cougars completed the regular season last Friday and were on hold for nearly six days.
“It was a long wait but I think it will be easier now,” Tickemyer said. “I think the wait hurt us. We were worried that the game would have to be played on Friday and that became an issue. The wait definitely built a lot of anxiety and it showed at the plate.”
Santa Ynez, an at-large entry out of the Los Padres League and in the playoffs for the first time in 28 years, took a 1-0 lead in the opening frame.
But the Cougars maintained their poise and tied the game at 1 in the second inning when Alyssa Fuimaono belted a home run over the fence at left center. The Cougars then took a 3-1 lead in the third when Stephanie Tickemyer and Arianna Espinoza crossed the plate - Tickemyer on a RBI single by Kristen Neal and Espinoza on a sacrifice-fly by Fuimaono.
Beaumont was a bit startled by Santa Ynez’ early lead. Fuiamono walked two batters in the inning, which was just enough for the Pirates.
“In the beginning I was struggling because I was a little bit nervous,” Fuiamono said. “The umpire wasn’t giving me much. In the second inning I went in and worked what he was giving me and what they were swinging at.”
Fuiamono settled down and finished with a 3-hitter and eight strikeouts.
“She did an amazing job,” Moreno said. “She struggled at the beginning but after that she was really throwing strikes and her changeup was working good.”
Beaumont will face the winner of a first round game between Sunshine League runner-up Los Angeles Marymount and Desert Sky runner-up Ridgecrest Burroughs.
