JACKSON >> It was a long road trip and a long day for Aptos High’s softball team, which made a near 3-hour trek to face host Argonaut in the first round of the CIF D-IV NorCal Regional playoffs Tuesday.

The No. 7 seed Mariners rapped out the timely hits to rally for the lead in the seventh inning and held on for a 4-3 win over the No. 2 Mustangs.

The jubilant Mariners crooned to the hits at night.

“We live for another day,” said Phil Rojas, the Mariners’ head coach. “It was a long day. I thought the girls were going to be sleeping on the ride home, but they were all singing. They sounded like a choir.”

The victory was music to the Mariners’ ears. Three days after losing by a run in their first Central Coast Section title game appearance, the Mariners not only earned their first NorCal playoff win in school history, they became the first softball team from Santa Cruz County to earn a regional win.

“It’s huge, winning a regional game,” Rojas said. “For our program it goes a long way.”Senior outfielder Kailani Aguayo hit a two-run double to drive in freshman outfielder Gwen Vaca with the tying run and sophomore shortstop Emma Burgueno with the go-ahead run in the seventh inning.

Sophomore pitcher Mya Najera-White and the Mariners’ defense shut down the Mustangs in the bottom half of the inning to secure their spot in the next round.

Aptos (18-8 overall), the runner-up in both the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League and CCS D-III playoffs, plays at No. 3 San Leandro in the semifinals on Friday at 6 p.m.

The Pirates (22-8), who compete in the West Alameda County Conference and finished second in the North Coast Section D-III playoffs, edged No. 6 University Prep of Redding 4-3 in the quarterfinals.

The Mariners won without senior shortstop and leadoff hitter Bailey Fulton, who had conflicting obligations ahead of Aptos’ graduation on Thursday.

Vaca filled in admirably in the leadoff spot. She finished with three hits, one RBI, and scored twice

“She came out solid and filled the void for us,” Rojas said.

Aguayo finished with three hits, including a pair of doubles, and two RBI.

“She had some clutch hits today. Big time,” her coach said. “She wasn’t feeling it before the game today. We pulled in the dugout and she got hydrated. We pepped her up OK. Those were big RBIs.”

Aptos finished with nine hits, three for extra bases, and drew two walks. Burgueno doubled, drew a walk, and score a run. Senior first baseman Lilly McGee had a hit and one RBI and sophomore Cassidy Levesque scored a run.

Najera-White scattered four hits and five walks in her complete-game win. She struck out seven batters.

Senior Hailey Dewald took the complete-game loss for the Mustangs (24-6), the second-place finisher in the Sierra Valley Conference and Sac-Joaquin Section D-VI champion. She recorded eight strikeouts.

Senior third baseman Catie Strieff had two hits, including a double, one RBI, and scored a run to lead the Mustangs. Senior Bailey Baker doubled, drew a walk, drove in one run, and scored a run.

“They played great ball,” said Rojas, of the Mustangs. “I felt for them. They played flawless defense and they hit, but we found a way to win. …I’m just super proud of these (our) kids. It didn’t look good, but we ended up as winners.”