Southern Section Softball Playoffs : Fountain Valley Wins With Pitching, Defense

Fountain Valley High School used none of its four hits Tuesday and still came away with a 1-0 win over Cerritos in the Southern Section 4-A softball semifinals at Golden West College.

The Barons will play St. Joseph’s--a 1-0 winner over Downey in eight innings--in the 4-A final, at 8 p.m. Saturday at Mayfair Park.

What gave the Barons the victory was a one-hitter by Patti Taylor--her third in two weeks--a tight defense and an ability to take advantage of Cerritos’ mistakes.

In the third inning, Fountain Valley center fielder Cathy Scanlan grounded to Cerritos third baseman Heather Mazenko. Mazenko set herself and then overthrew first base. Scanlan went to second on the error.

Scanlan moved to third on Dara Price’s sacrifice bunt. Sindy Rice followed by hitting another ground ball to Mazenko, who looked Scanlan back to the base and overthrew first base again . Scanlan scored, and Rice went to second.

Cerritos pitcher Brenna Zetzman stopped the Barons’ rally by striking out Taylor.

As Cerritos was throwing away its chances, Fountain Valley was scooping up ground balls.

Taylor struck out five Tuesday, but her biggest strength was inducing Cerritos batters into hitting the ball on the ground. The Barons’ infield had 12 assists Tuesday, seven by third baseman Lea Young.

“We told Patti to just let them hit the ball and the defense will do the rest,” said Cary Baker, Fountain Valley coach. “We have a lot of confidence in them. If there’s a ball near them, they’re going to get it.”

As proof, Baker pointed to a spectacular play by Young in the seventh inning.

With no outs and the bases empty, Zetzman hit a hard ground ball that appeared on its way to left field. However, Young dove and fielded the ball. In one motion she bounced to her feet and threw out Zetzman at first base.

Jennifer Merino followed by grounding out to second and Taylor struck out Gina Donlin to end the game.

“Defense wins games this late in the playoffs,” Baker said. “You’re going to see good pitchers every game at this point. What it comes down to is who is not going to make mistakes, and who is going to take advantage of mistakes.”