Southern Section 3-A Playoffs : Diamond Bar’s Ebenkamp Has No-Hitter Against La Quinta

Bonnie Ebenkamp pitched a no-hitter--her fourth of the season--to lead Diamond Bar High School’s softball team to a 1-0 victory over La Quinta on Wednesday in a Southern Section 3-A second-round playoff game at Garden Grove.

Ebenkamp (10-2), a junior left-hander whose no-hitters have included two perfect games, struck out six. Only three runners reached base, all on infield errors.

“I felt really strong out there today,” she said. “As a team, this is by far the best game we have played. We are peaking at the right time.”

Diamond Bar advances to the quarterfinals Friday against La Mirada at a site to be determined by a coin flip Thursday. Diamond Bar, the Sierra League champion with Charter Oak, defeated La Habra, 5-1, last Friday in an opening-round playoff game. La Quinta, second to Kennedy in the Garden Grove League, finished the season 16-7.

Diamond Bar, which lost to Sunny Hills in the 3-A final last year, scored in the top of the seventh. Elizabeth Sirchia led off with an infield single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Amy Johnson. Sirchia moved to third on a groundout by Lara Kups and scored when Mindy Bloomstein lined a sharp single to right center.

La Quinta went quickly in the seventh. Ebenkamp struck out Chemaine Ramirez, got Bonnie Cloyd to ground out and caught Coral Watkins looking at a called third strike to end the game.

“Ebenkamp pitched well under pressure, “ Rob Weil, La Quinta coach, said. “She kept her composure and stayed right on top of us all game long.”

In other 3-A games:

Valencia 1, Bellflower 0 (8 innings)--Michele Granger threw a one-hitter to lead Valencia (22-6) at Bellflower. Granger (21-3) had 23 strikeouts and allowed just a bloop single to lead off the sixth inning. After the hit, Granger struck out the side. In the top of the eighth, Buffy King led off with a bunt single and Dena Oborn was sent in as a pinch-runner. Oborn went to second on a wild pitch and then was sacrificed to third by Kristy Renken. Julie Cunningham’s sacrifice fly scored Oborn. Valencia will play Buena Park in the quarterfinals on Friday.

Western 5, Hawthorne 2--Dena Petersen (5-4) threw a five-hitter, striking out five, and also had the game-winning RBI for Western (16-10) at Hawthorne. Petersen allowed just two unearned runs. Hawthorne led, 2-0, after the first, but Western tied the score one a two-run double by Misty Pinkerton. The Pioneers took the lead in the fifth, as Teresa Anderson singled and Petersen hit an inside-the-park home run. Lisa Sciarrino had 3 hits and 2 runs scored and Anderson had 2 hits. Western will play Charter Oak in the quarterfinals on Friday.