Southern Section Softball : Osterman Settles for 1-Hitter; Garden Grove Wins, 4-0

Garden Grove High School, behind the one-hit pitching of Leslie Osterman, defeated Saddleback, 4-0, Friday in the first round of the Southern Section 3-A playoffs.

Pitching at home, Osterman (21-7) came within one out of a no-hitter, but Roadrunner left fielder Grace Terrado lined a two-out single to center in the seventh.

Osterman has thrown six no-hitters this season, including two perfect games. Osterman threw back-to-back no-hitters in the Cypress tournament in March. In fact, her personal record of 21-7 this season is the season record of the Argonauts.

Against Saddleback she struck out seven and walked two.

Garden Grove scored once in the second. They added two in the fifth, one run coming on first baseman Kathy Lorenz’ RBI single. Lorenz was 2 for 3. Leslie Burke was also 2 for 3 with a run scored. The Argonauts got another run in the fourth.

Osterman has pitched in all but seven innings of Garden Grove’s games. She has won the her last 15 of 16 decisions.

In other 3-A action:

Brea-Olinda 5, Bellflower 2--Shelly Miguel batted and pitched the Wildcats past Bellflower at Brea. Miguel had two-hits, including a two-run double in the first inning in addition to pitching a complete game, six-hitter with 13 strikeouts. Tracy Guy and Katy Swain also had two hits for Brea, which improved its record to 15-9. The Buccaneers ended the season 10-9.

La Quinta 8, Estancia 1--Pitcher Yvonne Cloyd allowed only one hit to lead the Aztecs (20-6) to a first-round win at home. The one hit was a fourth-inning home run for Eagle left fielder Sandy Bratz. Otherwise, Cloyd had an easy time, striking out 10 to improve her record to 9-1. Estancia ends its season with a 12-6 record.

Kristy Van Patten and Stephanie Messner each went 2 for 4. Van Patten had two RBIs. La Quinta will play the winner of the Western-Artesia game in the second round Tuesday.

In 2-A action:

Mission Viejo 1, Ramona 0--Diablo shortstop Suzie Powers won the game with an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh inning. Powers’ hit to center field came with two outs and brought home Shereen Loth, who had walked with two outs. Mission Viejo (14-6) advances to play No. 1-seed Royal Oak in the second round.

Winning pitcher Sharron Yeaton (8-5) allowed four hits. Regina Morris allowed only three hits as the losing pitcher for Ramona (19-5).

Mary Star of the Sea 2, El Toro 1 (12 innings)--A bases-loaded single closed out this three-hour game at Mary Star. El Toro trailed, 1-0, in sixth when Lisa Tamillo singled and stole second. She moved to third on a fielder’s choice. With two outs, Patty Forrest’s ground ball was fielded cleanly by the shortstop, but the throw was dropped by the first baseman, allowing Tamillo to score and tie the game.

Dawn Robertson (9-9) pitched all 12 innings for the Chargers, striking out a career-high 12 batters. Her previous high was 10.