JC softball: Renee Ortega’s grand slam lifts Fresno City past Diablo Valley in Super Regional

The Fresno City softball team has shown a flair for the dramatics throughout the season – the latest coming in the Northern California Super Regional on Friday.

Renee Ortega hit a walk-off grand slam, giving the second-seeded and host Rams an 8-5 victory over No. 7 Diablo Valley in the four-team, double-elimination tournament. The Rams move on to face No. 3 Sacramento City at noon Saturday.

Fresno City coach Rhonda Williams talked about needing a win in the Super Regional opener to avoid going into the losers’ bracket – and the same strategy holds for Saturday.

“We don’t want to put our team through that, much less our pitcher,” Williams said. “It’s a huge victory for us, just to win that first one and not have to win four straight and come through the losers’ bracket. We need to keep taking it one game at a time.”

Fresno City (38-5) led 4-2 in the top of the seventh inning, but the Vikings (28-15-1) rallied and scored three runs for a 5-4 lead.

But the Rams pulled through in the bottom of the seventh. Sarah Santana and Karen Zamora were walked to load the bases before Ortega’s grand slam with two outs. The Rams finished with four home runs.

“It’s what they’ve been doing all season long,” Williams said. “We get ourselves down in a hole and we find a way to come back. It’s somebody different all the time and that’s what is so fun about this team. It’s not just one person: Last weekend Sarah Santana came up big for us and today it was Karen Zamora and Renee Ortega. It’s a team victory.”

This story was originally published May 13, 2016 at 6:15 PM with the headline "JC softball: Renee Ortega’s grand slam lifts Fresno City past Diablo Valley in Super Regional."