The Ocean View softball team is in the elite eight.
The Seahawks moved on to the quarterfinal round of the CIF Southern Section Division IV playoffs Tuesday by scoring twice in the top of the seventh inning to subdue host Rowland, 3-2.
Ocean View will host Gahr of Cerritos at 3:15 p.m. today. The winner moves on to Tuesday’s semifinal round.
“It was a tough one,” Ocean View Coach Randy Cruz said of the Rowland game. “We hit the ball but just couldn’t get timely hits when we needed them. We left a lot of runners on base.”
Vanessa Cardoza had two hits and two RBIs, Nikole Afusia had two hits and drove in a run and Sarah Craig and Brandice Cutspec each had two hits for Golden West League champion Ocean View which improved to 25-1.
Today’s game against Gahr will be a rematch for the teams; earlier in the regular season, Ocean View earned a 4-2 road win against the Gladiators.
Gahr, champion of the San Gabriel Valley League, is coming off a 12-10 second-round win Tuesday over Savanna.
“They’re a good team and it’s going to be a tough match-up,” Cruz said. “They’ve really come on strong in league and have been doing well in the playoffs.”
Sophomore Holli Floetker, who went the distance Tuesday to improve to 15-1, will start for the Seahawks today.
Ocean View had moved on to the second round after slipping past visiting Bishop Montgomery, 1-0, Friday.
The Seahawks got the win when senior Nikole Afusia delivered an RBI single to right-center field in the bottom of the sixth.
Freshman Sarah Craig, who singled to open up the bottom of the sixth, scored on the play.
Floetker struck out 10 and limited the Knights to three hits as the Seahawks atoned for a 5-1 first-round loss to Bishop Montgomery in last year’s playoffs.
Bishop Montgomery went on to reach last year’s Division IV title game.
Three other local teams, Huntington Beach, Edison and Marina, all dropped first-round Division I games.
Huntington, an at-large entry from the Sea View League, fell 7-2 at Pacific View League champion Camarillo. Senior Summer Cordova had an RBI single and Lauren Sturh and Courtney Dial also singled for the Oilers who ended the year 14-14.
It was Huntington’s first trip to the CIF playoffs in more than 13 years.
“I was very, very happy with the girls, they had a great season,” Huntington Coach Rachelle Vandiver said.
