Beaumont Takes Playoffs Show to L.A.

Mountain Pass League champion Beaumont travels to Marymount in Los Angeles on Tuesday to determine which team advances in the CIF-Southern Section Div. 5 softball playoffs.

Los Angeles Marymount finished its regular season as the No. 2 team in the Sunshine League.

Beaumont (22-4) opened the playoffs with Thursday’s 4-1 win over Los Padres League at-large entry Santa Ynez.

The second-seeded Cougars have won 15 of their last 16 games and are riding an eight-game win streak.

Beaumont rallied from an early one-run deficit to record the win over Santa Ynez.

“If we are in a one-run ball game by the end of the second inning going into the third, we are comfortable,” Beaumont Coach Jim Tickemyer said. “We were never worried. We were probably more worried before the game than when we were sitting behind the one run.”

Thursday’s win showcased the all-around skills of Alyssa Fuimaono, who homered in the second inning and pitched a 3-hitter to pick up the win.

“We have the same expectations everyone else has of us,” Tickemyer said. “I think we’ve earned the respect that we have. Now we need to go out and play our game and if we do that, then everyone will know why we are as respected as we are.”

Marymount (15-9, 6-2) was a Div. 6 finalist last season where it lost to La Salle in the championship game.

Individually, the Sailors are anchored by three players. Megan Blank is batting .565 and has converted on 27 of her 30 stolen base attempts. Shannon O’Neil is batting .468 and brings a perfect 18 for 18 in stole base attempts

O’Neil and Hayley Schultz have shared the mound. They have a combined 145 innings of work and have combined for 186 strikeouts.