SOUTHERN SECTION SOFTBALL : 4-A : Fountain Valley Is Victim of No-Hitter by St. Joseph, 2-0

St. Joseph High School softball pitcher Lisa Fernandez hasn’t left herself much to look forward to in the remaining three years of her prep career.

The freshman was one baserunner away from throwing a perfect game Saturday night as the Jesters beat Fountain Valley, 2-0, to earn the Southern Section 4-A championship in front of 3,100 fans at Mayfair Park in Lakewood.

Fernandez’s perfect game was broken up in the sixth inning when the Barons’ No. 9 hitter, Dara Price, grounded sharply to the right side of the infield. Jester shortstop Gina Lopiccolo knocked the ball down with her glove, but was unable to make a play.

The ball appeared to be a legitimate infield single, but was ruled an error by the official CIF scorer, allowing Fernandez to gain her fifth no-hitter of the season.

St. Joseph Coach Debbie Taylor said Fernandez, 15, has thrown three perfect games, eight one hitters and 11 two-hitters for the Angelus League champions (19-7-1). She has thrown 207 innings, striking out more than 300 of the batters she faced. She struck out nine Saturday.

“She’s very mature and in control on the mound,” Taylor said. “She had not pitched much this week because her elbow was bothering her.”

The Jesters’ Ana Veloz scored in the second inning when the Barons’ usually reliable defense committed two errors behind pitcher Patti Taylor, who gave up four hits.

Debbie Taylor said her team performed exceptionally at the plate. “They made a few mistakes we could take advantage of, (but) we made good contact tonight. It was one of our best nights hitting.”

The Jesters scored their other run in the fifth after Lisa Podesta singled with one out and took advantage of another pair of Baron mistakes to score.

“We just came in too high emotionally,” Baron Coach Cary Baker said. “We were overpumped.”

Baker said his team had not faced a pitcher with Fernandez’s velocity.

“We’ve beaten good (pitchers) and she was better than good tonight. She dominated the game.

“The combination of her and being down by two took our psychological edge away.”

Fountain Valley, the Sunset League champions and No. 1 seed in the 4-A division, finished the year 25-5 after advancing further than any other softball team in school history.

Patti Taylor, who pitched gamely and struck out seven in the first three innings, finished 19-4.

The title was the first for the Jesters since moving up to the 4-A division.