Southern Section Softball Roundup : St. Joseph Works Overtime Again, Beats Downey, 1-0

Lakewood St. Joseph High School, which went 29 innings before defeating Cerritos Gahr in the quarterfinals last week, worked overtime again Tuesday, going eight innings before beating Downey, 1-0, to advance to the Southern Section Girls’ 4-A softball final.

This time, St. Joseph only went one extra inning, pushing across a run in the bottom of the eighth inning at Del Valle Park in Lakewood.

Amy Gelbach scored the winning run from second base after an errant throw to first base on a bunt by Katie Brazelton. Lisa Fernandez (18-3), who pitched 29 shutout innings to win against Gahr, pitched eight more shutout innings Tuesday.

St. Joseph’s opponent in the final will be Fountain Valley, which beat Cerritos, 1-0, at Golden West College. Cathy Scanlan scored Fountain Valley’s run on a throwing error in the third inning.

The 3-A final will have Irvine Woodbridge, a 2-1 winner over Placentia Valencia, playing Crescenta Valley, a 1-0 winner in eight innings over La Habra Sonora.

Covina Charter Oak, the top-seeded team in the 2-A, was upset by Arroyo, 2-1, at El Monte Mountain View High School. Arroyo will play El Toro, a 2-0 winner over Corona, in the final.

Paraclete went 18 innings to defeat Lompoc Cabrillo, 3-2, at Lancaster City Park, and advance into the 1-A title game against Rancho Palos Verdes Miraleste, a 8-0 winner over Riverside Notre Dame.

In the Small Schools, Avalon was the beneficiary of a generous Trona team that committed 13 errors. Despite managing only three hits, Avalon used the 13 errors to score nine runs and win, 9-2.