SOFTBALL : Escondido, Hilltop, Bishop’s Capture Titles

SAN DIEGO â€”  Escondido High School has been around a long time. So long that none of the Escondidans watching the San Diego Section softball final between Escondido and Grossmont Saturday could be sure when the school was built.

The exact age of the campus at 1535 North Broadway became a pertinent question, however, after the Cougars defeated the Foothillers, 5-0, at Mesa del Sol for the Division 2-A championship.

The Cougars’ victory brought Escondido its first girls’ section championship in school history. The second-seeded Cougars didn’t back into the title. They shelled fourth-seeded Grossmont’s Jolie Oliver (17-3) for 10 hits in support of senior right-hander Ruth Henry (12-1), who pitched a three-hitter. Escondido improved to 22-2.

Fred W. Heinle, an associate superintendent of the Escondido Union High School District who was in the stands, said the school opened in the late 1940s. He’s not sure what year. But he guarantees that EHS is over 40 years old.

In the 3-A final, Hilltop settled a bitter rivalry, beating Chula Vista, 1-0. Bishop’s came from behind to edge Calvin Christian, 3-2, for the 1-A crown. Both of those teams had won section championships before.

Escondido had played nine consecutive games without striking out, then Oliver fanned four in the first two innings. But Oliver, a junior, was hampered by a bruised thigh, and minutes before the game she cut a finger on her pitching hand. Worse, her fastball wasn’t moving and Escondido started pounding her best pitch--the rise ball.

“We’ve been hitting the ball all year,� Escondido Coach Jeff Carlovsky said. “We don’t have an easy out in the lineup. The kids have stayed focused.�

The Cougars got two runs on four hits in the third and three runs on four hits in the top of the seventh. No. 9 hitter Michele Crouch started both rallies, twice doubling over an outfielder’s head.

“(Oliver) gave me my favorite pitch,� said Crouch, a senior. “I like the outside drop, and I got it both times. She was fast, but there was not a lot of movement on her pitches.�

The key to Hilltop’s victory was the first inning. Its defense, the cornerstone of a 26-4 season, committed three errors and allowed Metro Conference rival Chula Vista (21-7) to load the bases with one out. But Lancer third baseman Soida Barajas threw out Joie Bonilla trying to score from third, then she fielded Vickie Tejeda’s grounder for a force to get Hill (24-4) out of the jam.

Hill went on to throw a one-hitter, as did the Spartans’ Jennifer Martinez (13-4). But the hit off Martinez, an infield liner by Stephanie Maifert off Martinez’s glove, allowed Darlene Ortega to score from third in the fifth inning. Martinez, a junior who had a perfect game through four innings, was victimized by two errors in the inning.

Hill, a senior, led the Lancers to their first section championship since 1976, when Hilltop had freshman pitcher Mary Lou Ramm. Ramm went on to post a career ERA of 0.19, and her name appears seven times in the section record book. Hill’s name will be added to the book at least once. Her 24th victory Saturday broke the single-season record held by Michelle Wesson (Christian High, 23 in 1986).

“At the start of the year, I didn’t know what kind of a team we would be,� Hill said. “We turned out to be pretty good. We pulled together.�

Bishop’s--with an almost entirely new cast of players--captured its fifth consecutive 1-A title behind junior Anna Bjeldanes (19-2), who struck out 11 Crusaders. The third-seeded Knights (19-3) lost, 7-4, to Calvin Christian during the regular season.

Bjeldanes got hot in the tournament, throwing a no-hitter, a two-hitter and a three-hitter in the final, and struck out 36 in three games. The Knights took advantage of a walk, a hit batsman and three wild pitches to score the tying and winning runs in the sixth.