PREP SOFTBALL ROUNDUP : Coach’s Instinct Is Correct; Western Goes Undefeated in Orange League

Before the start of the Orange League softball season, Western wasn’t exactly playing like a championship team.

The Pioneers came into league play struggling, having lost their last three nonleague games. Although Coach Carl Whitson initially believed his team was the one to beat, the losing streak slightly tempered his optimism.

“I thought we were capable of going 10-0 in league, but if you’d asked me after those three losses, I probably would have been happy with 8-2,” Whitson said.

As it turned out, Whitson’s first instinct about the Pioneers’ capabilities were right. Western clinched the league championship and finished an unbeaten league season with a 3-0 victory over Brea-Olinda Thursday, preventing the runner-up Wildcats from sharing the title.

The Pioneers (15-8, 10-0 in league) received a clutch performance from Dawn Fowler, who struck out 12 and gave up seven hits. Fowler was especially tough when Brea (17-6, 8-2) put runners on first and second in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings, allowing none to reach third.

Western took advantage of the few scoring opportunities Brea pitcher Andrea Schuette allowed. The Pioneers took a 1-0 lead in the first after Beth Queypo walked to start the game, stole second and scored on Sonya Fellows’ single.

In the fifth, Schuette walked Bradie Scholz and Queypo to start the inning. When Brea threw the ball away on Courtney Chambers’ sacrifice bunt, Scholz scored to make it 2-0.

“A week ago, I got on their case about how many times we’ve left runners in scoring position this year,” Whitson said. “We worked on advancing the runners for an entire practice last Wednesday, and today we executed things like the sacrifice bunt and hitting to location pretty well.”