Cornerstone Christian survives early-round scare
Softball team is top seed in Division VII
By Thomas Gase tgase@theacorn.com

BILL SPARKES/Acorn Newspapers LOOK OUT!- Cornerstone Christian's Christine Yamek dances out of the way of an inside pitch during Tuesday's 10-5 victory over Providence in the CIF-Southern Section Division VII playoffs.

Cornerstone Christian may be a smaller school than Camarillo High, but its softball team's goals are just as big.

After going 13-3 during the regular season, Cornerstone Christian earned the No. 1 overall seed in the CIFSouthern Section Division VII bracket. Following a bye in the first round, the Eagles took care of business in the second round Tuesday by beating Providence, 10-5.

Against Providence, the Eagles were down 52 in the bottom of the third inning when head coach Dean Drulias called the team over for a quick meeting.

"I could tell they were nervous, and I had to settle them down," Drulias said. "I told them that they had scored two runs on us in this inning, but now it was our turn to come up to bat and get some runs. I had them taking until they got one strike and after that if they got a good pitch to hit, to drive it."

Cornerstone responded in the bottom half of the third by scoring three runs thanks to an RBI single by junior Arianna Drulias and an RBI triple by senior catcher Christine Yamek. When senior Christina Aguilera chopped an RBI infield single, the game was tied.

Cornerstone then opened the flood gates in the bottom half of the fourth and never looked back.

Junior Bailee Bileschi and freshman Olivia Graham led off the inning with singles. With one out, senior Jessie Castro lined a triple up the gap to center.

After a wild throw by Providence got away, Castro skipped home with another run to put the Eagles up 8-5. Yamek would go on to hit an RBI double that would plate Drulias. Yamek would later score in the inning when Aguilera singled, this time to center field.

Yamek had a great day at the plate, going 4-for-4 with three doubles and a triple.

With Cornerstone now ahead, starting pitcher Castro settled down. After the third inning the senior didn't allow a run, going the distance for the win.

"Our coach has taught us that we need to be in every game mentally," Castro said. "I was having some problems on the mound, but it was more mental than anything mechanical. My coach talked to me after the third inning, and after that I pitched better. The adrenaline is always there for me, but I had to settle down a little bit."

For the Eagles to go far in the postseason, Cornerstone will need Castro to be pitching in top form. Coming into the playoffs, the righthander had thrown 70 of the team's 81 innings for a record of 10-2 and an ERA of 2.80.

According to coach Drulias, another factor in the team's success will be how well the bottom of the lineup hits. On Tuesday the 7-8-9 hitters- Laura Eisenstein, Graham and Nicole Klingerman - did a good job of getting on base for the top of the lineup.

"If the bottom of the lineup gets on like it did today, we are going to have a lot of success scoring runs," Drulias said. "Arianna had three hits today and Christine had four hits, so if we can get people on base for them to drive in, we'll be in good shape."

Cornerstone played late Thursday at home against Mesa Grande Academy. The score wasn't available prior to press time.