COLLEGE SOFTBALL ROUNDUP : Orange Coast Trips Antelope Valley to Win Title, 3-0

For the second time in as many days, pitcher Jill Bishop and Orange Coast College dealt Antelope Valley a 3-0 loss. Saturday’s blanking proved fatal for the Marauders because it came in the championship game of the Southern California Section III softball regional at McAdam Park in Palmdale.

Less than 24 hours earlier, Orange Coast--behind Bishop’s six-hitter--sent the Marauders to the losers’ bracket with a 3-0 decision in the four-team, double-elimination regional.

Orange Coast (26-13), seeded sixth in Southern California, advances to the state championship next weekend at Riverside Sports Complex. Antelope Valley, seeded No. 3, finished 41-10.

Apparently Bishop improved overnight. The right-hander tossed a three-hitter and although she struck out only three, she did not allow a walk.

“I don’t know what this pitcher had,” Antelope Valley Coach Gene Pagliaro said. “We faced a lot better pitchers and a lot better teams. They just had our number in this tournament I think.”

After Friday’s loss to Orange Coast, Antelope Valley had to go through the losers’ bracket to get back to the Pirates, who went 3-0 in regional play.

Earlier, the Marauders pounded nine hits to beat Pasadena City, 5-3, in a losers’ bracket game. But against Orange Coast, the Marauder hitters were all but absent.

Margaret Perez, whose two-run triple paced Antelope Valley’s win over Pasadena, Yvette Allen and Christine Smith were the only Marauders to manage a hit off Bishop (17-10).

Orange Coast had only five hits off Heather Meyer (17-5), but three went for extra bases and each contributed to runs. Becky Elcock’s two-run home run gave the Pirates a 2-0 lead in the third inning. In the fifth, Orange Coast scored again on consecutive doubles by Tami Dowlin and Elcock, who drove in all three Pirate runs.

Offense was scarce for the Marauders. No Antelope Valley runner--and there were only three--advanced past first base. Although the Marauders never threatened, Pagliaro thought it was only a matter of time.

“We felt all along that we could come back,” Pagliaro said. “We felt we could beat them all along even up until the last inning--the last out.”

Against Pasadena, Antelope Valley set the pace. The Marauders bunched four hits for four runs in the second inning.

Pasadena answered in the third with three runs to get to within 4-3. Smith, who went two for three against Pasadena, drove in Antelope Valley’s fourth run in the fifth inning with a single.

Angie LePage (23-5) threw a five-hitter with seven strikeouts.

Cypress 11, Canyons 1--Cypress (47-18) earned its fifth consecutive state tournament berth by destroying Canyons in the Southern California playoff championship game at Cypress.

After going into extra innings for both of its victories Friday, Cypress wasted no time by scoring two runs in each of the first three innings against Canyons (19-10).

The Chargers pounded out 15 hits and took advantage of nine Cougar errors to score eight unearned runs.

With one out in the second, Fellows bunted for a base hit, and Canyons catcher Kate Stoll threw wildly for a three-base error. With the ball rolling down the right-field line, Fellows circled the bases to give Cypress a 3-0 lead.

Run-scoring singles by Kerry Moloney, Fellows, and Kristi Richerson put Cypress ahead, 6-0, in the third inning. Canyons scored in the fourth.

Cypress answered with a four-run fifth.