HIGH SCHOOL SOFTBALL : Medina Stifles Mt. Carmel, Puts Spartans in Semis

Monica Medina and her Chula Vista teammates feel as if they have something to prove this week. The Spartans have been on a mission since Saturday, when they entered the San Diego Section 3-A softball playoffs unseeded.

They want to prove they are more than the second-place club from the Metro Conference. They will have that chance this Saturday in the finals.

Chula Vista (21-6) surprised second-seeded Mt. Carmel, 3-0, in Thursday’s semifinal at Escondido’s Kit Carson Park.

Medina, a sophomore who was lesser known than her counterpart, Jennifer Ortiz, tossed a three-hitter, and the Spartans scored three unearned runs.

Medina (9-3) struck out eight, walked one and allowed only two runners to reach second base. Ortiz was victimized by five errors and fell to 15-4. The Sundevils ended their season at 19-5.

The Spartans, who were 12-2 in the Metro, will face top-seeded Hilltop in the final at 3 p.m. at Mesa del Sol. The two teams split two one-run games in the regular season.

“It’s better that we weren’t seeded,” said Medina, 16, who left school for a month last fall to pitch for the Mexican national team in the Central American Games. “We feel we have something to prove. The team is playing at its best right now.”

Chula Vista scored in the first, second and sixth innings. Each time the run came home on sacrifice bunts toward third, and each time the second baseman was slow to cover first, resulting in three overthrows.

“I’m not disappointed in our season,” said first baseman Trish Maumausolo, a four-year letter winner at Mt. Carmel. “They played tough. It’s just too bad we ended up rolling over.”