San Pedro Gets Another Ticket to 4-A Final : Softball: The Pirates hang on to beat Carson, 1-0, to earn their fourth trip to the championship in six years.

San Pedro High softball Coach Tony Dobra was worried about complacency in his team’s City Section 4-A Division semifinal game Wednesday.

After all, the Pirates were playing Carson, a team they had beaten twice during the Pacific League season by a combined score of 24-2.

“I was trying to convince everybody it wasn’t going to be as easy as the first two times,” Dobra said.

He was right. Carson pitcher Jennifer Sponsler limited San Pedro to two hits, but the Pirates put them together in the same inning to produce the game’s only run in a 1-0 victory at the Wilmington Athletic Complex.

San Pedro (25-3), the defending City 4-A champion, will make its fourth appearance in six years in the championship game against Banning on Wednesday at Cal State Northridge. The Pirates defeated the Pilots in 13 innings in the title game last season.

With its normally potent offense struggling, San Pedro was forced to rely on pitching and defense Wednesday.

Junior Petrina Martinez (13-1) pitched a four-hitter, striking out 10 and walking one, and worked out of several jams. Carson got a runner to third base in the sixth and seventh innings, but each time the batter hit into the third out.

In the second, Carson led off the inning with two singles. However, Yvonne Ale was called out at second for leaving the base before Martinez had released the pitch. Martinez ended the inning with two strikeouts.

San Pedro scored its run in the second. Amie Roberts led off with a single and went to second on Kris Jurat’s slap grounder back to the pitcher. Lisa Hebert drove in Roberts with a single to left-center field.

Sponsler dominated the Pirates after that, retiring 13 batters in a row before giving up a walk in the sixth.

“We couldn’t get any good, solid swings against her,” Dobra said. “We hit a lot of weak ground balls.”

Dobra said playing a close game could work to San Pedro’s favor entering the City final.

“I think it proved to the kids that there are teams that can have a career day and step up and beat us,” he said. “If today doesn’t serve as a wake-up call, nothing will.”