Softball Roundup : Ocean View Defeats Righetti in Canyon Invitational, 4-2

The Righetti High School softball team managed to end an Ocean View streak, but the Warriors still lost to the Seahawks, 4-2, in the championship game of the Canyon Invitational Tournament of Champions Saturday night at Peralta Park in Anaheim.

Ocean View, behind the pitching of junior right-hander Jackie Oakley, had not let its opponents score in 12 previous game this season. But all that changed in the last inning of Saturday’s game.

The Seahawks (13-0) had built a 4-0 lead going into the seventh inning. Righetti’s Mona Lacey reached on a fielder’s choice and scored on a triple by Marti Mitchell. Mitchell scored on a ground out to first by Bridgette Grose.

That’s the closest Righetti came to threatening Ocean View’s unblemished record. The Seahawks had scored all their runs in the first two innings, so all they had to do was sit back and let the Warriors play catch up, which they almost did.

“We almost blew it,� said Oakley, the tournament’s most valuable pitcher. “We just kicked back. (The Warriors) were more up (the last) inning.�

The Seahawks scored twice in the first on two walks and a pair of singles. They added two more runs in the second inning on a home run by Charis Monroe.

In the third inning, Righetti freshman Cynthia Brown relieved sophomore starter Kristy Buck and Ocean View never scored again.

“I felt we should have beaten them,� Warrior co-Coach Bob Burns said. “We never got down. The girls felt confident they could do the job.�

But time ran out before the Warriors (12-2) could do so. Before the game, co-Coach Rick Cornejo said his team depended mainly on defense because his pitching staff was young. He said the Warrior’s pitching and hitting is catching up with the defense.

“If you hit the ball on (Oakley), you might find a way of beating (Ocean View),� he said.

But until that last inning, Oakley, who played with a sore finger on her pitching hand, made it tough for the opponents to even get a hit. She struck out 12 Warriors, including 11 in a row. She had 62 strikeouts in five tournament games.

Now that a team has broken the scoreless streak, Ocean View can start preparing its defense, which Coach Sarah Oakley conceded hadn’t been tested this season. Even pitcher Oakley is glad someone has finally scored against her team.

“Someone had to score on us,� she said. “Now our defense will be ready more. I knew we’d give up a run sometime. I just wish we would have scored more when we did.�

They might have, had it not been for Brown.

Monroe, who also hit a home run against Cypress on Friday, was named the tournament’s best offensive player and Kennedy catcher Denise Correa was selected as the most valuable defensive player.

Also named to the all-tournament team were Brown, Mitchell, Kathy Fogg (Huntington Beach), Julie Carpenter (Edison), Nikki Luce (Cypress), Kristi Robinson (Sonora), Debbie Dickmann (Newbury Park), Karen Westphal (Newbury Park), Kathy Lorenz (Garden Grove), Cindy Gossmer (Magnolia), Jana Darling (Ocean View), Julie Scruggs (Ocean View), Sandy Buckner (Cypress) and Tanya Silvis (Kennedy).

In college softball action:

Cal State Fullerton 1, Pacific 0--The Titans broke the scoreless tie in the eighth inning when Michelle Gromacki scored on an error in a game at the Hawaii Softball Invitational Tournament in Honolulu. The Titans advance to play Fresno State today.