It’s All in the Wrist as RBV Wins

Alicia Marrone’s mom is psychic.

Terry Marrone told her daughter Thursday morning she had a bad dream the previous night, that she woke up with a sore wrist and that something terrible involving a wrist was going to happen in the Rancho Buena Vista-Hilltop softball game.

But don’t worry, Mom said, it’s not going to happen to you.

Instead, Alicia Marrone was the one handing out the nightmares in the San Diego Section 3-A semifinals at Kit Carson Park.

She knocked Hilltop pitcher Jackie Hill out of the game in the fourth inning when her line drive hit Hill in the hand--close enough to the wrist--and then drove in the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning of RBV’s 5-4 victory.

RBV will meet Orange Glen for the championship at 3 p.m. Saturday at Mesa del Sol Field.

“When it happened, I went into shock,” Marrone said of the game’s key play, which sent Hill crumbling to the ground. “I said I was sorry; she said, ‘It’s OK, it’s not your fault.’ ”

Hill retired the game’s first 13 batters before Venus Moll reached first on Hill’s throwing error. Then came Marrone’s hit off her pitching hand.

“When (Hill) got dinged, I thought, ‘This is it,’ ” RBV Coach Ken Elderts said. “This is the ballgame.”

It was, but it wasn’t. RBV scored two runs in that fourth inning to tie it at 2-2, but Hilltop came back in its next at-bat with two runs off RBV ace Rachel Boyer (21-5). Pam Dennis (3-2), a freshman who replaced Hill at pitcher, scored on Darlene Ortega’s single, and Becky Gomez scored on a wild pitch. Carrie Rayburn, who replaced Hill in the batting order, was thrown out trying to score on an inning-ending double play.

RBV scored once in the fifth and once more in the sixth before Marrone ended it in the seventh. With one out, Annjanette Vittuli was thrown out trying to stretch a single into a double. But Moll followed with a double to left center, and Marrone lined her second hit into right center.

In another 3-A game:

Orange Glen 3, Chula Vista 1 (8)--Laura Campbell allowed two hits in the first inning and three in the eighth for Orange Glen (17-8). Stacy Williams singled to open the eighth. One out later, Campbell singled to put runners at first and third. Gina Phillips drove in the first run, Nikki Caster the second and freshman Julie Soderlund the third with a double. Chula Vista finished 20-9.

2-A semifinals

Santana 3, Escondido 0--For the second time in two weeks, Shelly Hawkins pitched a perfect game for 6 2/3 innings before allowing Michelle Nagthalon’s bloop single over shortstop. Hawkins struck out seven. She has thrown two-hitters this season. Hawkins also went two for three.

Santana will play Madison for the 2-A title at 12:30 Saturday at Mesa del Sol.

Madison 1, USDHS 0--Toi Poole scored the winning run in the bottom of the 14th, taking third on a passed ball and scoring on an error. Pitcher Jenifer Booker had 19 strikeouts.

1-A semifinals

La Jolla Country Day 13, Calvin Christian 5--An 11-run fourth inning was more than enough for La Jolla Country Day (13-8), which overcame a 5-1 deficit. Calvin Christian finished 12-11.

La Jolla Country Day will play Bishop’s for the championship at 10 a.m. Saturday at Mesa del Sol.

Bishop’s 8, Mountain Empire 6--Branaca Elsberry hit three doubles and drove home Laurie Smidt in the sixth inning with the go-ahead run. Bishop’s (20-3) is making its fourth consecutive trip to the section finals.