Pacifica Surprises Top-Seeded Hart to Advance

Hart High School Coach Al Weil watched his team lose Friday in the Southern Section 4-A quarterfinals by the same score as last year, 1-0, with the run coming in the same half inning--the bottom of the seventh.

Pacifica (16-8) eliminated top-seeded Hart from the playoffs to reach the semifinals for the first time.

“We were coming out to win, not just come out to be satisfied with the season,” said Rob Weil, Pacifica’s first-year coach.

“You’ve got to score a run,” Hart’s Al Weil said. “It’s the name of the game. We score one run, we win. They score one run, they win.”

The game was scoreless until the last at-bat, when Pacifica first baseman Dena Villasenor, slowed by a knee injury, led off by bouncing a single over third baseman Kim Curtis’ head into left field. Villasenor hobbled to first, where she was replaced by pinch-runner Carrie Parker.

Villasenor, a senior, went two for three, accounting for half of Pacifica’s hits. And her coach said he had decided to let her play before the game.

“She was questionable yesterday with a knee injury,” Rob Weil said. “So I took a chance with her, hoping for the base hit.”

Parker stole second when catcher Stephanie Keeler hesitated on the throw, following a strikeout by Susan Denny.

“That’s another one (Parker) on the injured list that just came back,” Rob Weil said. “Carrie was out three weeks with a bad back. Usually, she’s our starting center fielder. But today’s her first day back.”

Pitcher Jennifer Surface came up, after having struck out twice, and ripped the first pitch up the middle.

Hart second baseman Jamie Dean dove, but the ball got past her and rolled into center field, and the throw to the plate was late.

“(Hart pitcher Kym Weil) had been pitching me risers all day,” Surface said. “I knew this would be my last chance. I had struck out twice, and I knew that I had to chop it--I had to come at a different angle, and I just mentally pictured it.”

“Jennifer focused herself well,” Rob Weil said. “She’s a perfectionist, and she’s been coming through and doing well. She’s got a lot of composure for a sophomore.”

Surface, 15, struck out nine and walked one, with only two hits. And she is unsatisfied.

“I feel there’s always room for improvement,” she said. “There’s always something to work on. Right now, I have to work on the location of my pitching, concentrate on keeping the ball down, and I need to really work on my hitting.”