Pirates fall to Ventura in softball play-in game

COSTA MESA -- The Orange Coast College softball team saw its 2026 season come to an end with a 9-3 loss to visiting Ventura College in the play-in game of the Southern California Regional playoffs on Tuesday at the OCC Softball Stadium.

The loss leaves the OCC Pirates at 19-21 for the season. Ventura (22-18-1) moves on and will play this weekend in the opening round of the SoCal Regionals, which kicks off on Friday at 2 p.m.

VC pitcher Emma Estrella (10-4) kept the OCC bats off-balanced throughout the afternoon, holding Coast to three runs (one earned) on just four hits with four strikeouts, working around five walks and three hit batters along the way.

Both Pirate squads were tied at 3 heading into the top of the sixth. An inning that started with two outs and a runner on first appeared harmless for the OCC Pirates, but after a walk put runners on first and second, a grounder up the middle was corralled and a self-imposed force out at second looked to end the inning. But, the ball fell out of the OCC fielder's glove, allowing the runner on second to come around to score what turned out to be the winning run. 

Ventura made the nightmare inning last longer with three straight singles, which produced three more runs, putting the VC Pirates up 7-3.

OCC's final attempt at a comeback occurred in the sixth when a hit batter and two walks loaded the bases with two outs. But Estrella wiggled out of the inning harmless after a grounder to first ended the threat. Ventura tacked on two more runs in the seventh to cap off the scoring.

Zayra Landeros led Ventura at the plate, going 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBI, while Sophia Valencia added two hits and three RBI. 

After Ventura scored a pair of runs in the top of the first, OCC answered back with two runs to even the score in the bottom of the frame. Marissa Sardinas singled with one out and advanced to second when Maiah Rodriguez was hit by an Estrella pitch. Two batters later, a potential inning-ending infield fly was misplayed, allowing both OCC runners to score to tie the game at 2.

Rodriguez put Coast ahead in the bottom of the second when a well-placed infield single scored Afton Janke to put the hosts up 3-2. 

Valencia came through with a two-out, RBI-single to left in the top of the third to even things at 3 before the late-game answer by the VC Pirates.