Mistakes cost Sailors dearly

Chris Yemma

With Century League and Sea View League title banners lining the

entire outfield fence, capped with a 2002 National Champions sign on

the scoreboard, it could have been just a little intimidating setting

foot in Foothill High’s softball yard.

Perhaps it was the aura of the place, or perhaps Foothill was just

that good, but in either case, Newport Harbor suffered its first Sea

View League loss on Thursday -- a 9-3 lancing by the Knights.

“[Foothill] is one of the top two opponents we have faced this

year,” Sailors’ Coach Mike Davis said. “It’s a tossup between

[Foothill] and Peninsula.”

The Sailors (11-5, 1-1 in league) suffered a 6-1 defeat by

Peninsula, ranked No. 5 in CIF Southern Section Division II, in the

Cypress tournament March 12.

Foothill (15-5, 2-0) provided a six-run differential against

Newport Thursday, which was heavily sparked by a four-run fourth

inning and a three-run fifth inning.

Dartmouth-bound senior pitcher Ashley Gleason retired the side in

the first two innings for the Sailors while also connecting on two

base hits in the first three innings, but three errors in the third

and a combined eight hits through the third, fourth and fifth innings

placed Newport, in what turned out to be, an unsurmountable hole.

“We just couldn’t get them out in [the fourth] inning, we made

some mistakes in defense and let them get a good lead,” Davis said.

“We had a couple of opportunities, but the bottom line is, I think we

showed we could play with this team.”

Foothill, which fell to Mater Dei in the second round of the

Division I postseason a year ago, rotated through the entire lineup

in the fourth inning with five hits before a popout ended the scoring

spree.

After a lead-off hit down the right side by Lori Gilbert to begin

the doomsday inning, back-to-back little-ball plays were successfully

achieved, the second of which appeared marred on a force out to

third, but was called safe.

And a Lauren Molina RBI single, followed by a Brenda Jurado

two-run double, provided the rest of the fourth-inning damage against

the Sailors.

Gleason, who fell to 7-4, was replaced by freshman Jane

Messersmith in the top of the fifth inning to test her luck against

Foothill’s hot bats. Messersmith, who was 4-0 with a .233 ERA through

30 innings heading into the game, tossed three innings, allowing

three runs on two hits.

“Sometimes you have to change things just to change things,” Davis

said about bringing in Messersmith. “Sometimes it doesn’t matter if

you have your best pitcher going -- Ashley was doing fine, but we

just weren’t getting the outs and sometimes you have to change things

there.”

Davis said he was also testing the waters with Messersmith, seeing

how she would fare against a high-caliber team.

“I needed to find out what Jane could do against a team like this

too, and I’m pretty pleased,” he said.

It was the highest profile game the freshman had thrown in since

coming to Newport.

“I was kind of nervous and I didn’t have much time to warm up,”

Messersmith said. “I know I could have done a lot better. I was happy

with the second inning I pitched, but the first inning I didn’t like

much.”

After struggling through a bumpy fifth inning, Messersmith settled

down and retired the side in the sixth. She was also 2 for 3 at the

plate with a double and a run scored, while Gleason was 2 for 4 with

a run.

Junior Sara Larue went the distance for the Knights, allowing

three runs on seven hits.

Foothill Coach Jeff Jordan was pleased with the outcome but didn’t

want to get ahead of himself concerning the league picture.

Sea View League

Foothill 9,

Newport Harbor 3

Score by Innings

*--*

Newport 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 - 3 7 3

Foothill 0 0 2 4 3 0 x - 9 8 0

*--*

Gleason, Messersmith (5) and Bass; Larue and Vega. W -- Larue,

8-3. L -- Gleason, 7-4. 2B -- Messersmith (NH), Jurado (F).