The remarkable baseball season of
Jillian Albayati continued Saturday, albeit in defeat.
The 5-foot-6 junior drove in her team's only run and pitched nine superb innings, allowing a single run, but she and her
Anaheim (Calif.) teammates lost a 2-1 Southern Section Division 6 heartbreaker in 11 innings to
Estancia (Costa Mesa) at Cal State Fullerton.
Albayati, who entered 11-0 with a 1.68 ERA, made section history by being the first female to start on the mound in a title game. She was in command most of the way, allowing eight singles, walking one and hitting two batters. She also picked off a runner and induced two double plays.
After allowing a walk, hit batsmen and RBI single to
Jack Moyer in the top of the fifth, Albayati made up for it in the bottom half, fouling off seven two-strike pitches before lining an RBI single to right-center, scoring
Jesus Mejia. She came into the game hitting .362.
Jillian Albayati allowed just one run over nine innings on Saturday, but she and her Anaheim teammates came up short in 11.
File photo by Heston Quan
Besides the fifth, Albayati never faced more than four batters in any inning and just 13 batters over her final four frames before being relieved in the 10th by
Aaron Rojas due to pitch-count rules.
She had reached 100 pitches.
Estancia (28-5), which won just seven games last season, scored the go-ahead run in the 11th on an RBI double.
Anaheim (21-10-1), making only its second finals appearance (the first was 1980), threatened in the 11th putting two runners on. But the game ended when Albayati flew out to center and the runner from second left too early advancing to third. The Eagles won the appeal and their first section title, setting off a wild celebration near the mound. Anaheim was also after its first section title.
Both teams advance to the CIF Southern California Regional starting May 31.
Albayati has made a national stir not only with her sterling statistics, but also because she has dominated in one of the country's hotbeds for the sport.
