SOUTHERN SECTION SOFTBALL PLAYOFFS : Fountain Valley Defeats Loara in 12th; Rice Strikes Out 22

After nearly three hours of wasted opportunities on both sides, Fountain Valley finally scored in the bottom of the 12th inning to beat visiting Loara, 3-2, in a 5-A wild-card softball game Tuesday.

The Barons (19-4) advance into a first-round game Thursday against San Gabriel Valley League champion Cerritos (17-5).

The Barons put together the winning rally on singles by center fielder Robin Northcraft and third baseman Jennifer Allchion and a sacrifice bunt by left fielder Danielle Lovetro.

Fountain Valley, which tied Huntington Beach for the Sunset League title but lost a coin flip to the Oilers to determine placement in the playoffs, almost let a 22-strikeout performance by Rae Rice go to waste.

Rice (14-3) allowed eight hits and walk none. Fountain Valley took 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first. With two outs, shortstop Shannon Dolan got an infield hit and Rice followed with a shot to the gap in right field that scored Dolan. Rice also scored on the play when Saxon right-fielder Jami Watson threw wide of third.

The Saxons rebounded with two runs in the top of the third. Center fielder Kathy Shirley got things rolling with a bunt single and designated hitter Melissa Egger reached on an error. They moved to third and second, respectively, on a groundout by shortstop Gina Bird. Then leadoff batter Stephanie Wright loaded the bases with an infield hit.

That brought up left fielder Misty Marcum, who slapped a hard grounder to score Shirley and Egger. Rice then struck out the side.

In other 5-A wild-card games:

Kennedy 8, Paramount 0--Senior Cheryl Longeway (20-3) pitched a perfect game with 18 strikeouts for host Kennedy (22-3).

Longeway, who also had two hits, struck out the final 12 batters.

Cypress 2, Marina 0--Elicia Chad pitched a two-hitter for Cypress (12-7-1) at Arnold Park. Marina ends, 17-10.