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Aliso Niguel softball hits Pacifica hard early and rolls to victory

March 14, 2026

Aliso Niguel Rylie Long, right, is congratulated by the third base coach as she heads for home after hitting a home run against Pacifica in a nonleague softball game in Garden Grove on Friday, March 13, 2026. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)

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GARDEN GROVE — The Aliso Niguel softball team used a combination of long ball and small ball for a 9-1 victory over Pacifica, the No. 2-ranked team in Orange County, in a nonleague game Friday at Pacifica High School.

Aliso Niguel (6-8), ranked No. 15 in the county, collected 12 hits, 10 of which were singles, but it was a three-run home run from Rylie Long in the first inning that Pacifica never seemed to recover from.

“I was just really confident and I saw it up, and that was the pitch,” Long said of the home run.

Long, who bats cleanup, went 2 for 3 with five RBIs and was among three Wolverines with multiple-hit performances.

The Wolverines also put down two sacrifice bunts to move runners into scoring positions and the strategy resulted in runs both times.

Leadoff hitter Alexa Manning had three hits and scored a pair of runs and Sloan Lorenzo, the No. 2 hitter, went 3 for 3 with two runs scored.

Manning led off the third with a single and was sacrificed to second by Lorenzo.

Long then singled home Manning for the Wolverines’ fourth run.

The Wolverines had the bases loaded with no outs in the fifth and had already scored two runs when Lila An flied out to scenter, driving in Lorenzo from third for the seventh run.

Erin Lamey moved runners to second and third with a sacrifice bunt and Macie Romano drove in the runners with a double to cap a five-run inning for the Wolverines.

“We’re trying to do it any way we can, whether it’s a bunt or a base hit,” Aliso Niguel coach Randi Baldwin said. “That has kind of been the message is to pass the bat.”

Amanda Elkins earned the victory for the Wolverines, as she pitched a complete game, allowed five hits and a run with three strikeouts.

“Amanda is just a competitor,” Baldwin said. “No moment is too big for her. The bigger the game, the better she is. The later innings, the better she is.”

Leyla Ayres scored from third on a fielder’s choice for the lone run for Pacifica (8-5).

The Mariners usually score runs by playing station-to-station softball, Pacifica coach Tony Arduino said, so falling behind by multiple runs early made coming back difficult.

“They came out in the first inning and slapped us in the face with a three-run home run,” Arduino said. “I tip my cap to their offense. They came out swinging and they hit the ball hard. We turn the page, we learn from it and we move on.”

Pacifica reached the semifinals of the Dave Kops Tournament of Champions last week in Arizona.

Aliso Niguel softball hits Pacifica hard early and rolls to victory Orange County Register

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Aliso Niguel softball hits Pacifica hard early and rolls to victory

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