Will the third time be the charm for the Dos Pueblos softball team?
For the third straight year, the Chargers are home for the CIF Division 4 semifinals. They’ll face Torrance on Tuesday at 3:15 p.m., at Dale Okinaka Field. Torrance knocked off Santa Monica, 2-1, in last week’s quarterfinals while DP edged Aquinas, 2-1.
Santa Monica denied DP a trip to the final the last two years. To reach the championship game on Saturday in Irvine, the second-seeded Chargers (26-4) will have to beat a Torrance team led by power pitcher Marissa Moreno and slugger Jade Arslanian. Moreno has posted a school-record 243 strikeouts in 137 innings. She fanned 16 against Santa Monica.
Arslanian has belted 10 homers this season (also a Torrance record). Her 10th blast was a game-winner in the quarterfinals. The third-seeded Tartars (25-9) had only three hits in the win over Santa Monica — two home runs and a double.
Dos Pueblos has been swinging hot bats during the postseason. The Chargers have outhit their three opponents 30-6 and belted five home runs. Kai Uyesaka hit a two-run blast in the first inning at Aquinas, and UCSB-bound pitcher Veronika Gulvin made it stand up for the victory. Jade Sinskul and Lani Evans have each hit a pair of homers. DP has 29 homers on the season.
Torrance is making its first semifinal appearance since 2010. Dos Pueblos is trying to advance to the final for the first time since 2011. That team won the CIF title.
In Tuesday’s other semifinal, Riverside-Ramona is at top-seeded Palmdale-Highland.
