SOUTHERN SECTION 2-A SOFTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP : Boyd Doesn’t Give Up Earned Run All Year, So Why Start Now? : Woodbridge Rolls Past Hawks, 7-0

So, call Tiffany Boyd perfect. Not only did the Woodbridge High School pitcher not give up an earned run in the 204 innings she pitched this season, she can also see into the future.

She predicted a Woodbridge blowout against Laguna Hills in Friday’s Southern Section 2-A softball final. A risky call at best, considering the teams had split their league games the last two seasons and were declared 2-A co-champions last year after both failed to score in the 14-inning championship game.

But Boyd called it, and once and for all one of these teams has been determined the best, at least for now. Woodbridge beat up on its Pacific Coast League rival, defeating Laguna Hills, 7-0, at Mayfair Park Friday.

Boyd (24-4) pitched a 2-hitter and struck out 13, but had to rely on teammate Lisa Wehran to ensure that her 1988 earned-run average would stay a perfect 0.00.

With two outs in the seventh and Laguna Hills pitcher Margo Melendrez at third base, Erika Schlitz hit the ball hard for what appeared to be the hit that would blemish Boyd’s record.

But Wehran made a diving catch, snagging the line drive for the final out of the game and giving Woodbridge (25-6) its first outright softball championship.

“Lisa made the most awesome catch, but it (the earned run) didn’t matter,” Boyd said. “I just wanted to win.”

Both teams were frustrated last year after the championship game was called because of time.

This season, though the only league game they lost was to Laguna Hills, the Warriors were the better team. Stress the last word.

“You couldn’t ask for a better team effort,” Kodee Murray, Woodbridge’s first-year coach, said. “You don’t win with just one player.”

Woodbridge not only played almost flawless defense, the Warriors put a complete game together at the plate.

They got to Melendrez early. With two outs in the top of the first inning, senior third baseman Susan Spring doubled to left. Then Boyd, with the count 0-2, doubled to center to drive in Spring for the first run of the game.

Woodbridge scored again in the third when, with the bases loaded and two outs, Melendrez walked Kim Dean.

A big part of Laguna Hills’ success this year was because of Melendrez, a junior transfer who is a junkball pitcher. She threw three shutouts in the playoffs.

But Friday, Melendrez, who finished 19-9, got behind on the count to most of the batters she faced. And Woodbridge took advantage in the fourth inning.

Melendrez gave up three consecutive singles to load the bases with no outs. Then Dugard hit a ground ball to shortstop Schlitz, who--going for the out at the plate--threw the ball in the dirt, allowing Nancy Johnson to score. Wehran then put the game away with a three-run triple to right, giving Boyd a 6-0 lead.

“At the start of the game, I was nervous,” said Boyd, a senior who will attend UCLA next year. “I felt like people were looking at me to set the pace. But with six runs, I could let them hit it out of the park.”

Boyd, who was 2 for 3 with a walk, scored the Warriors’ seventh run in the seventh inning. She singled, went to third on a throwing error by Schlitz and scored on Nancy Johnson’s fly ball to center.

Laguna Hills finished 20-10.