El Camino Real Toasts San Pedro, Wins 5th City Title

Alisha Knopf was in much the same condition as the rest of the El Camino Real High softball team as she lifted a bottle of champagne to her lips, turned it bottoms-up, and took a big swig.

“I’m very sticky, I’m thirsty and I’m wet,” said Knopf, who was also plenty happy.

Knopf and her teammates had reason to drink and be merry after defeating San Pedro, 5-0, Wednesday at Cal State Northridge to win their fifth City Section 4-A Division title in six years.

Once they overcame some early inning jitters, the Conquistadores (22-4) made themselves right at home against San Pedro (18-5).

El Camino Real scored three runs in the fourth, two more in the seventh and rode All-City pitcher Beth Silverman’s two-hit shutout the rest of the way for the victory.

“As soon as the game got started and once we got that lead, we knew we were going to win it,” Silverman said. “We weren’t going to be satisfied with the silver.”

San Pedro settled for second, thanks to Silverman.

The senior right-hander did not walk a batter and struck out five, including San Pedro’s Chellee Bennett, who went down swinging for the final out of the game.

“I thought Beth pitched a great game,” El Camino Real Coach Neils Ludlow said. “She was really on today, and it was a great way for her to end it. It was the last game, last out, and the last strikeout of her career.”

It was Silverman who led the Conquistadores to the championship in 1985 and ’86. And, but for the fact that she sat out 1987 because of conflicts with her teammates, Silverman might have done the same thing last season, when El Camino Real lost in the final to Sylmar.

But Silverman (19-4) wasn’t going to dwell on that after the El Camino Real effort against San Pedro.

“Three years in the championship is nice. This was a nice way to end it,” she said.

Cathy Balint ensured the happy ending for El Camino Real by driving in two runs in the top of the seventh with a one-out double to left.

“Everybody was really going for it,” Balint said. “We’ve been practicing so hard for this all year, and we just had to get it.”

El Camino Real took control with a three-run fourth, which started with a Knopf single to center. Lisa Huffaker followed with a grounder to pitcher Meagan Moore (10-4), who turned and threw the ball into center field.

Both runners advanced on a bunt single by Silverman (1 for 3) and Jenny Fleming drove in Knopf and Huffaker with a bases-leaded double down the left-field line. Silverman later scored on a wild pitch to give El Camino Real a 3-0 lead.

“This win was very rewarding,” Ludlow said, “especially because we have a lot of new players, and at the beginning of the year, we had a lot of unknown quantities.”

By the time the title game was over, however, San Pedro Coach Tony Dobra knew everything he wanted to about El Camino Real.

“The sign of a good team is that they take advantage of the opportunities that they get--and they did that,” he said.

“I really give them a lot of credit. They’re a good team.”

The Conquistadores will drink to that.