SOUTHERN SECTION 1-A SOFTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP : La Reina Gains Revenge Against Paraclete

La Reina High’s softball team handed Paraclete its only previous loss this season, but it was La Reina that came looking for revenge in the Southern Section 1-A Division championship game Saturday at Mayfair Park in Lakewood.

The Regents, who had suffered quarterfinal-round losses to Paraclete the past two years, exacted revenge with a 3-0 victory.

La Reina, which beat Paraclete, 2-0, in April, finished the season 21-5. The Spirits were 27-2.

“All through the lineup--in nine positions--I thought we were the better team,” La Reina Coach Don Hyatt said after the game.

Paraclete Coach Margaret Neill was generous in her praise for La Reina.

“They did everything right,” said Neill, whose team lost to Agoura in last year’s final. “They outplayed us in every aspect of the game. They deserved to win.”

The Regents outhit Paraclete, 10-5, and had a hit in every inning but the second.

Theresa Pasinosky’s two-out, two-run infield single started the scoring in the first inning. Michelle St. Pierre walked and Heidi Heinl’s double to left-center field placed the runners in scoring position for Pasinosky, who went two for four.

“I was just trying to get it in play,” Pasinosky said. “I didn’t know it would result in two RBIs.”

St. Pierre (17-1), a sophomore right-hander, threw a five-hitter to earn her 10th shutout of the season.

Four consecutive hits in the seventh gave the Regents their final run. Val Serpico, who went two for three, drove in the run by bouncing a single into left field with the bases loaded.

Natalie Stephens had two hits for Paraclete.