Camarillo Victimized by a Single Angry Swing

Los Alamitos High’s Debbie Wilson was still shaking her head in disgust over the plate umpire’s strike call when the next pitch was delivered.

Turns out anger motivates Wilson best.

On an 0-and-1 pitch, Wilson ripped a run-scoring double into left field to score Michelle Schneider in the top of seventh inning and Los Alamitos held on to defeat Camarillo, 1-0, Tuesday in a semifinal of the Southern Section Division I softball playoffs at Borchard Park in Newbury Park.

Los Alamitos (24-3), the Empire League champion, will face top-seeded Simi Valley on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in the final at Mayfair Park. Camarillo, which finished one-half game behind Simi Valley in the Marmonte League, finishes 23-7.

It started as a pitching duel between two senior right-handers: Carrie Dolan of Los Alamitos and Laura Richardson of Camarillo. Dolan, who will play for Arizona, and Richardson, who will play for San Luis Obispo, matched each other pitch for pitch. Each had a no-hit bid working through six innings. And each lost the bid in the seventh.

Wilson’s double was the only hit off of Richardson (19-4), who kept Los Alamitos off-balance with a good mix of drops and rise balls.

“She moved the ball around really well,” Wilson said. “She had that rise that really rose and we couldn’t hit it. Then she would go outside with it. . . . “

Ironically, the pitch Wilson hit was a rise that “flattened out,” according to Richardson.

“If I hadn’t thrown that pitch we’d probably still be playing,” Richardson said.

Extra innings appeared imminent until the seventh, when Wilson dug into the batter’s box with one out and Schneider at second. Schneider walked and advanced to second on Carolyn Wilson’s ground out.

The first pitch to Wilson appeared lower than her knees, but the umpire called it a strike. Wilson was outraged and after a quick staredown with the umpire, Wilson dug in again, shaking her head in disapproval all the while.

“I did not like it at all,” said Wilson of the strike call. “I was mad because I struck out looking the time before and I wasn’t about to go down looking again.”

On the next pitch, Wilson ripped a liner over the head of left fielder Robin Degner, who was playing rather shallow.

“I had just moved her in maybe two pitches before that,” Camarillo Coach Darwin Tolzin said.

Schneider scored easily.

Camarillo made things interesting with a rally in the bottom of the seventh.

Kelly Rutschman bunted for a single with one out. After Dolan (nine strikeouts) struck out Vicki Vasquez, Jeffyln Spahr singled to put the tying run at second. Jessica Ziese followed with a chopper to third baseman Megan Barnes, who turned and tagged third base for the third out.

The Scorpions, who stranded seven runners, loaded the bases in the third, but could not capitalize.