HIGH SCHOOL SECTION PLAYOFFS : SOFTBALL FINALS : Hawkins Throws Two-Hitter to Lead Santana; RBV, Bishop’s Also Win

Santana pitcher Shelly Hawkins said the playoffs were no place to walk on the the wild side or throw anything fancy. Just pitch conservatively.

Her instincts not only held Madison (27-3) to two hits but earned Santana (29-2) the San Diego Section 2-A softball championship Saturday at Mesa Del Sol Complex.

The Sultans, who hadn’t reached the finals since they won the 3-A title in 1984, defeated Madison, 1-0.

“I was pitching a conservative game,” Hawkins said. “I didn’t want to take any chances on risky pitching. I let my defense take over.”

Santana had a 3-1 record against Madison this season, and in 23 innings against the Warhawks, Hawkins (16-1) allowed just one run. She didn’t pitch in a 3-0 loss.

“This is the third time we’ve seen her, so there was nothing we didn’t expect,” Madison Coach Steve Miner said. “We figured the team that got the first run would win, and that’s what happened.”

With one out in the fifth, Hawkins’ line drive up the first-base line scored Christy Stippy, who had doubled.

“It was an outside fastball,” Hawkins said. “I can’t believe it went where I wanted it to go, right up the base line.”

The game featured the county’s top two pitchers in Hawkins and Jenifer Booker (16-3), but Miner said Thursday’s semifinal might have bothered Booker Saturday. She pitched the entire 14 innings in a 1-0 victory over USDHS.

“I guess we won’t know how she would have done if she didn’t pitch those 14 innings, but I was concerned that it might affect her today,” Miner said.

John Bobof, Santana’s first-year coach, was not only blessed with Hawkins but inherited a team full of upperclassmen. The lineup had eight returning varsity players; the lone freshman, Teresa Stippy, was at third.

“I knew at the start of the year it was a good team and that we were capable of winning it all if we could put it all together,” Bobof said.

3-A Championship

Rancho Buena Vista 5, Orange Glen 0--Rachel Boyer, who usually throws a rising pitch, was instead successful dropping it down, yielding no hits until the sixth and leading the Longhorns (25-5) to their first section title.

“We changed the pitching,” RBV Coach Ken Elderts said. “We wanted to stay down. Her drop was working right in the umpire’s strike zone.”

In the second inning, Christina Feliccia, running for Boyer, stole second and reached third on Carrie Chino’s infield single. With Laura Quiroz up, Chino was caught in and then escaped a rundown between second and third, allowing Feliccia to score RBV’s first run.

Quiroz then tripled, scoring Chino. Quiroz scored on a sacrifice fly by Valarie Valencia. Annjanette Vitulli bunted safely, went to third on an error and scored on a bunt by Alicia Maronne, giving RBV a 4-0 lead.

In the third, Chino doubled and scored RBV’s final run on an error.

Chino, who went three for three, was the only Longhorn with more than one hit.

Orange Glen finished 17-8.

1-A Championship

Bishop’s 7, La Jolla Country Day 4--Bishop’s (21-3), which collected its fourth consecutive 1-A section title, rallied from a three-run deficit by scoring four runs in the top of second and another three in the third.

“It was important for us to come right back,” Bishop’s Coach Ren Marquette said. “They’re veterans and knew what they had to do.”

Nicole Boynton, a junior, went three for four for Bishop’s.

La Jolla Country Day finished 13-9.