PREP ROUNDUP : Foothill’s Gonzalez Wins Pitchers’ Duel

In a matchup between two of the county’s best high school softball pitchers on two of its top softball teams, Foothill right-hander Leeann Gonzalez got the upper hand on Canyon’s Sara Roberts, and the host Knights upset the Comanches, 2-1, in a Century League game Thursday at Hillview High School in Santa Ana.

Gonzalez, a junior, gave up six hits and struck out six. She improved to 8-2 and kept Foothill (11-2), ranked sixth in the county, atop the league standings with a 2-0 record. Canyon (13-3, 1-1) entered the game ranked second behind Kennedy.

Foothill scored its runs in the second inning without the benefit of a hit,then held off Canyon’s seventh-inning threat.

First baseman Christina Mazurie and right fielder Andrea Chambers reached safely on errors in the second. The runners advanced on a groundout, then scored on consecutive fielder’s choices. Back-to-back throws to the plate were late on grounders by Gonzalez and center fielder Julie Ehret.

After Canyon center fielder Maureeen Del Mazzio opened the game with an infield hit, Gonzalez retired nine consecutive batters until second baseman Dalynne Large singled to right with one out in the fourth. She scored one out later on a passed ball.

The Comanches loaded the bases in the seventh on a couple of hits and a hit batsman, but Gonzalez got Del Mazzio on a pop fly to second for the game’s final out.

The defeat was the first in 10 decisions this season for Roberts. The right-hander allowed five hits and struck out three.

In other Century League games:

Villa Park 6, Orange 2--Jody Carreras (6-4-1) pitched an eight-hitter with eight strikeouts and added a three-run double for host Villa Park (6-6-1, 1-1).

El Modena 7, Santa Ana Valley 1--Kristi Bolle hit a base-empty home run in the first inning and a two-run homer in the second for host El Modena (6-8, 1-1).

In Garden Grove League softball:

Garden Grove 5, Rancho Alamitos 3--Michelle Cash had a two-run double, scored twice and stole two bases for host Garden Grove (11-4, 6-0).

In Empire League softball:

Loara 1, Esperanza 0--Gina Bird pitched a a five-hitter and Jaime Watson double in a run in the sixth for host Loara (8-6, 2-0).

Cypress 2, El Dorado 1--Christa Faindon hit a two-run triple in the fourth inning for visiting Cypress (5-2, 1-1).

In Freeway League softball:

Sunny Hills 6, Troy 0--Stacy Thurber had four hits, stole two bases and had one RBI for visiting Sunny Hills. Bernie Sancuberta pitched a two-hitter and struck out seven for Sunny Hills (10-4, 2-0).

In Orange League softball:

Western 7, Valencia 0--Dawn Fowler pitched a three-hitter for host Western.

In Pacific Coast League softball:

Trabuco Hills 2, Laguna Hills 0--Brianna Burkman (8-4) pitched a four-hitter with 12 strikeouts host Trabuco Hills (10-10, 2-0).

Costa Mesa 14, Laguna Beach 5--Robin Nichols, Amy Marino and Tracey Forth each hit home runs for Costa Mesa (4-6, 1-1).

In Olympic League softball:

Whittier Christian 12, Orange Lutheran 1 (5 innings)--Debbie Goddu pitched a one-hitter and Shannon Hart had three RBIs for Whittier Christian (2-6, 2-3).

In Garden Grove League baseball:

Santiago 6, Los Amigos 3--Jose Guzman had four hits, including a two-run home run, and four RBIs for visiting Santiago (11-6, 4-1).

In Pacific Coast League baseball:

Laguna Hills 11, Century 1--Jim Reynolds, Brett Nista and Jason Pierson each had home runs for host Laguna Hills (10-6, 6-1). Ted Wilkes (3-0) allowed four hits in five innings for the victory.

In Empire League golf:

El Dorado 198, Loara 203--Erik Wolf of El Dorado (11-2, 6-1) shot an even-par 34 at Dad Miller.

In Pacific Coast League golf:

Trabuco Hills 175, Laguna Beach 196--Jason Brown of Trabuco Hills (9-0, 4-0) and Jona Tatch of Laguna Beach each shot even-par 32 at Aliso Creek.

In Sunset League golf:

Marina 398, Huntington Beach 398--Scott Gibson of Huntington Beach shot a 73 at SeaCliff but Marina won the match on a sudden death playoff hole, 28-32.

In Sunset League tennis:

Fountain Valley 15, Westminster 3--Eddie Weiss swept 6-2, 6-0, 6-0, and Colby Morita swept, 6-1, 6-0, 6-1, for host Fountain Valley (13-2, 8-0).

In Freeway League tennis:

Sunny Hills 16, Sonora 2--John Nessrah and Jason Nadamsky won, 6-1, 6-2, 6-0, and Matt Erwin and Dan Lee swept, 6-2, 6-1, 6-0, in doubles for host Sunny Hills (9-0, 5-0).

In Pacific Coast League badminton:

Estancia 15, Saddleback 4--Doan Nguyen won two singles matches--11-2, 11-3; 11-2, 11-2--and a mixed doubles match with Chau Nguyen, 15-0, 15-2, for host Estancia (9-0, 6-0).