Courtesy “The Paw Print” West Ranch High School

Another game, another pitching duel, but this time the magic would run out as the Wildcats would fall short of the first CIF-SS title, losing 4-2 to Norco on Saturday night.

In a game that started nearly two hours after the scheduled start time due to an extra inning battle the game before, starters Lexi Sorensen and Taylor Dockins kept the battle going, giving their respective sides an opportunity in the game.

Neither would yield a run through three innings as both were on their game to start allowing just two hits combined.

The top of the fourth was the first time either team threatened when Norco put runners on the corners, but Sorensen got some strong defense and worked out of the jam, keeping Norco off the board going into the bottom of the fourth.

To start the Wildcats half of the inning, Megan Smith reached on an error, then moved to third on a base hit by Keeley Walsh, and eventually scored on an RBI single by Makenna Harper to give the Wildcats the first run on the game.

Neither team put up any offense in the fifth, and after a scoreless top of the six by Sorensen the Wildcats Jessica Harper gave her some extra run support blasting a ball deep over the right center field fence to make it 2-0 West Ranch.

Sorensen would struggle in the seventh walking and hitting a batter to put two on for Norco with one out and the tying run on first.

She would get a strikeout before walking the next hitter on a strange call where she stepped off the rubber which yielded an automatic ball, which would be ball four, loading the bases for Norco’s big gun Abby Lockman, who would beat out an infield hit to drive home a run making it 2-1 West Ranch.

Sorensen would then hit the next batter, pushing the second run across for Norco without yielding a hit, tying the game at 2, ending Sorensen’s night.

Makenna Harper would come in and allow a big single to right field that would drive in two, putting West Ranch behind for the first time in the game, leaving them just three outs to try and make a comeback.

The Wildcats would go quietly in the seventh as Norco would take the game 4-2.