The bottom of the third inning started out as if nothing would happen.
But it was the lone offensive outburst in the Southern California Division I Regional championship softball game at Poway High School.
And it was just enough.
After a pair of strikeouts, the Titans got a walk from senior Hailey Burns. On a 2-2 pitch, senior Miah Garcia lined a double to left-center to put Burns in motion.
“Getting ahead was the key,” Garcia said. “It helped us relax and meant they had to chase us the rest of the day.”
Burns barely beat the throw home for the only run in the 1-0 victory for No. 1-seeded Poway over No. 2 Westlake Village Oaks Christian on Saturday.
“As soon as Miah hit it, I was scoring,” Burns said. “I put it in go mode and I went. We needed that run and I wasn’t stopping at third base. I’ll never forget my senior season and a moment like this.”
After Burns scored, the ball was put right into sophomore pitcher Mya McGowan’s glove.
McGowan was threatened in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings but never yielded a run to Oaks Christian (30-3-1).
“Mya pitched a great game and kept them on their heels all day,” Poway coach Jim Bennet said. “We told her to keep it away from those strong hitters, force them to hit a homer to the opposite field. She left it up to her defense and we play great defense.”
The win stretched the winning streak for Poway (29-3) to 17 straight and gave the Titans a program record for wins in a season.
Poway’s defense came through one final time in the seventh inning after the Lions opened with a bloop single.
On the sacrifice bunt, the Oaks Christian runner reached second base but rounded the bag and cautiously made a break for third base only to have freshman left fielder Alyssa Menges cover the bag and tag out the runner for the second out.
McGowan induced an infield grounder for the final out.
“I knew they were the best hitting team we faced all year,” said McGowan, who allowed five hits and three walks while striking out four to improve to 18-1 this season. “Every time a batter came up, I switched what I was doing to them.
“I thought this would be a one-run game the whole way. I had to do this for the seniors.”
Besides Garcia’s run-scoring single, the Titans received a single from Alexis Huey and a double by pinch-hitter Alyssa Menges.
Oaks Christian’s power game — it averaged 9.8 runs a game and had hit 68 homers (about triple the Titans’ total of 25) coming into the finals — drove everything the Poway defense did all day.
Oaks Christian scored double figures in runs 16 times this season until it ran into the Titans.
“This special moment can never be forgotten by us or any girl who picks up a softball in the future in Poway,” Garcia said.
“I ran into a little girl in the yogurt shop (Friday) and she recognized I was on the varsity team and she wished us luck.
“I would have said you were crazy had you told me two years ago (when Poway had a 5-24 record) that we’d win state.”
