Southern Section 4-A Softball Playoffs : Western Gets Unearned Run in Seventh to Defeat Hart, 1-0

Western High School scored an unearned run in the seventh inning to beat top-seeded Hart, 1-0, in a Southern Section 4-A quarterfinal softball game Friday at Western.

Western (25-5) got its first hit off Hart’s Kim Weil (25-2) in the seventh when Lisa Sciarrino opened the inning with a triple over center fielder Roxanne Marta’s head.

Weil, who struck out 12, retired the next two hitters, but Wendi McDermott hit a grounder that was misplayed by second baseman Nickie Fox. Sciarrino scored to put Western into Tuesday’s 4-A semifinals against Kennedy, a 7-2 winner over Laguna Hills.

“I really didn’t know what pitch it was I hit or how deep the ball went,” Sciarrino said. “I was a little anxious when we weren’t able to score after we made two outs, but I was confident that we were going to come through in the end.”

Before Sciarrino’s hit, Western’s only runners came on two walks in the first inning.

Hart (28-2), from Newhall, failed to convert several good chances. With runners on second and third and two outs in the fourth, freshman Dawn Fowler (13-4 after pitching a three-hitter) got Kelly Kepplinger to ground out. Then, with two outs in the sixth, Hart’s Crissy Carpenter, who reached second on two errors by second baseman Collene Conahan, advanced to third on Jamie Dean’s bunt single.

Dean then tried to get herself in a rundown between first and second long enough to allow Carpenter to score. Dean’s attempt drew a throw from catcher Sciarrino to shortstop Ivy Pinkerton, but Pinkerton threw the ball back to Sciarrino when Carpenter ran toward the plate.

Sciarrino, who was blocking the plate, held onto the ball as Carpenter tried to knock her over.