Calabasas Four Make Last Game Final, 1-0

VALLEY GLEN —  One more for the four.

Amy Rosson, Sara Hall, Heather Bell and Ashleigh Orton have played softball together since they were 6.

The Calabasas High foursome will suit up one last time on either Friday or Saturday, when the Coyotes meet defending champion Chaminade for the Southern Section Division IV championship at Mayfair Park in Lakewood.

Calabasas earned its first berth in a section final on Tuesday with a 1-0 upset of second-seeded Harvard-Westlake on a two-hitter by Rosson in a semifinal at Valley College.

“This is so cool,” said Bell, a senior first baseman who has committed to Southern Mississippi. “This is the best ending anyone could have hoped for.”

Each of the four seniors has earned scholarships, but their careers have been marked by remarkable ability and less-than-remarkable postseason success.

Pitcher Rosson has accepted a scholarship to UC Davis, right fielder Orton will play at Bradley.

“We’ve had amazing talent,” said Hall, a catcher who has committed to Purdue. “Whether we have put it together or not is a whole other game.”

Calabasas (20-7) scored an unearned run in the third inning and Rosson (19-5) held off Harvard-Westlake (25-5) to avenge two earlier losses to the Wolverines.

Lindsey Golde blooped a single to right field to start the third, and pinch runner Ashley Dechter advanced to third when Harvard-Westlake misplayed a sacrifice bunt.

Dechter scored when left fielder Veronica Brooks caught a fly ball by Carly Weinstein in foul territory and was unable to throw out Dechter at the plate.

Rosson battled a swollen index finger on her right, pitching, hand to strike out eight and improve to 55-25 in her career.

She worked her way out of jams in the fourth and sixth innings, each time stranding runners on third base, and handed the explosive Mission League champions only their second shutout.

The Wolverines outscored three previous playoff opponents, 18-1.

It was the second time in three weeks Rosson dueled with Harvard-Westlake’s Anna Russell (22-3), who pitched a three-hitter.

Russell won, 2-1, at the Thousand Oaks tournament after the Wolverines scored in the eighth on an international tie-breaker.

Harvard-Westlake routed Calabasas, 13-4, in a nonleague game when four Coyotes, including Rosson, were benched for missing a practice to go to a dance.

Now they’re going to the biggest dance, with their coach’s blessing.

“I’m glad these girls get the chance to experience this,” first-year Coach Barbara Hofer said. “I can’t imagine a better way for them to go out.”