Sylmar Again Finishes Conference Softball Season Unbeaten

Coach Chuck Miller didn’t mince words when speaking about Sylmar High’s quest for a second consecutive undefeated Valley Pac-8 Conference softball season.

“We’re greedy,” Miller said after the Spartans defeated Birmingham, 6-2, Thursday in their conference finale. “We’re not afraid to admit it.”

If more incentive to defeat the Braves was necessary, consider this: The visiting Spartans were playing in front of their biggest crowd of the season--about 50 people--against Mid-Valley League rival Birmingham.

The Spartans, who already had clinched the conference title, relied on superb pitching from sophomore ace Ruby Gonzalez to improve to 17-1, 10-0 in conference play. Birmingham (11-3, 9-3), which had clinched second place in the conference, was seeking to enhance its seeding in the City Section 4-A Division playoffs with a victory.

Instead of responding to its home crowd, Birmingham experienced stage fright and committed seven errors.

“This is the biggest crowd that we’ve ever had and it showed,” Birmingham Coach John Krog said.

Gonzalez, however, was as cool as the bucket of ice water that teammates dumped on her after the game. Despite a sore wrist, she struck out 13--one shy of her season high--and scattered six hits.

Still, Gonzalez (11-1) said she could have thrown harder. Miller said Gonzalez, a product of Sylmar recreational-league softball, is unusually mature for a sophomore pitcher.

“I can’t thank those (recreational-league) coaches enough,” he said. “They trained her to get the basics down. When she got to me, I worked on stealing and bunting--that’s about all she needed.”

Sylmar, which scored a run in the first inning and two in the second, put the game out of reach in the fourth.

Aracelly Hernandez, Jaime Vo and Wendy Alcantar loaded the bases with consecutive bunt singles. Missy Herrera followed with a triple, giving the Spartans a 6-0 advantage.

Birmingham answered with a run in the bottom of the fifth. With one out, Crissy Cavallero doubled and Mary Marjan followed with a run-scoring single. Gonzalez then ended the threat, retiring the next two batters.

Marjan also was responsible for the Braves’ second run in the sixth. She singled home Liz Stuckey, who singled and advanced on a passed ball.

Gonzalez, who threw 98 pitches, got stronger as the game went on and struck out four of the last seven batters she faced.

Alcantar had two hits and scored twice.

“She’s the best pitcher that we’ve faced,” Krog said. “And this is the second-best team in the City next to El Camino Real.”