The Preps : SOUTHERN SECTION PLAYOFFS : SOFTBALL : 5-A Softball : Thousand Oaks Beats Marina, 4-3

Usually when the Thousand Oaks High softball team throws the ball around behind pitcher Alicia Zinner it’s after a strikeout, something that happened only five times Thursday against Marina.

So, perhaps compelled by boredom, Thousand Oaks played it fast and loose on the infield with balls in play. The result was that the Lancers were nearly eliminated from the playoffs.

Thousand Oaks, which has a reputation for good defense, committed four errors but still managed a 4-3 victory over Marina in a Southern Section 5-A playoff game at Thousand Oaks.

The Lancers came through on defense when they needed to most--in the last inning.

Renee Kirby, Marina’s ninth-place hitter, led off the seventh by singling up the middle. Christa Yorke hit a ground ball that shortstop Phronsie Franco misplayed for her third error of the game.

That was compounded when Franco held the ball while sulking a bit, which allowed Kirby to reach third.

Franco quickly made retribution, however. Yorke tried to steal second but Franco took the throw from catcher Sabrina O’Beirne and applied the tag for the out so quickly that Kirby had to hold at third.

Sandra Ross then hit a grounder to Franco, who caught Kirby breaking for the plate too soon and forced a rundown. Kirby was out on a throw from O’Beirne to third baseman Tricia Gregoire, who then turned and whipped a throw to second base in time to double up Ross trying sneak into scoring position.

“It was a tough way to go down,” said Susie Calderon, Marina coach. “In crucial situations you tend to get antsy as a baserunner. We took too big of lead offs and that’s what got us.”

Through four innings, Zinner (22-5) had allowed only one hit but was locked in a 3-3 tie.

The hit was a well-timed triple up the left-center field gap by Julie Muche that scored Mindy Burgess, who had walked to lead off the fourth inning, and Becky Toler, who reached on a fielder’s choice.

But with Muche--the go-ahead run--on third and no outs, Julie Luft struck out, bringing up Susan Walter, who had struck out in her first at-bat.

Calderon called for the suicide squeeze, Walter missed it, and Muche was out in a rundown. Two pitches later, Walter hit a ground ball that Franco booted for an error, but Zinner got out of the inning still tied.

Thousand Oaks scored the winning run in the sixth inning, when Lisa Stoddard scored on a one-out single by Shani Smyth off losing pitcher Willa Parchen (17-8). Marina finished 18-10.

In another 5-A quarterfinal:

Righetti 1, Fountain Valley 0 (11 innings)--Heather Compton pitched a two-hitter for the Warriors (226-2) at Righetti. Rae Rice pitched a four-hitter for Fountain Valley (19-7-1).