Bobby Sox National Tournament : Bellflower Wins Two in a Row From Fullerton Hills for Title

Fullerton Hills breezed through the National Bobby Sox tournament. Until Friday night.

Angela Robinson’s two-out single in the bottom of the seventh scored Alisa Laman to give Bellflower a 6-5 victory over Fullerton Hills for the Bobby Sox title at George Bellis Park in Buena Park.

Bellflower advanced to the tournament final through the losers’ bracket, having to win back-to-back games Thursday against Navajo of San Diego and Madera.

In Friday’s opener, Bellflower, behind the one-hit pitching of Shelby Maxwell, defeated Fullerton Hills, 5-0, to force a second game.

Fullerton Hills had entered Friday with a 5-0 record. Pitcher Bernie Fancuberta won three times, including a perfect game against on Monday.

In the championship game, Fullerton Hills squandered a 2-0 lead as Bellflower scored five times in the fourth to make it 5-2.

Tiffany Alvis delivered the big hit for Bellflower, a bases-loaded triple off Fancuberta that scored Kelly Hibma, Maxwell and Robinson. Bellflower added two more runs with two outs, when Laman tripled to scored Alvis and Nikki Kennedy.

Fullerton Hills scored two runs in the first, by Nicola Walsh and Jennifer Sieminski, on an error by the shortstop, Hibma. Fullerton Hills added a run in the fifth and two in the seventh to tie the score, 5-5.

Laman picked up the victory for Bellflower, pitching 2 innings in relief, giving up two runs on three hits.

Fancuberta suffered her first loss of the tournament, giving up six runs on five hits. She had nine strikeouts.

Bellflower’s last Bobby Sox championship was in 1975.

In the first game, Maxwell threw a one-hitter, striking out 9 and walking 4. She allowed just a first-inning single Sieminski.

Maxwell was also the hitting star for Bellflower, collecting three hits including a bases-empty home run in the seventh.

Nicola Walsh gave up seven hits and five runs for Fullerton Hills.