Griffin Delivers Title for Simi Valley : High school softball: Junior right-hander pitches one-hitter, comes through on promise with home run in 1-0 win over Los Alamitos for Division I title.

It was positively Ruthian.

Simi Valley High’s Sara Griffin called her shot before the game, ripped the home run she had promised her friends and tossed a one-hitter to beat Los Alamitos, 1-0, in the Southern Section Division I championship game Friday in front of about 1,500 at Mayfair Park in Lakewood.

It is the first softball title in school history for the Pioneers, who finished runner-up to Cypress a year ago.

Griffin refused to go home runner-up to Los Alamitos (24-4).

The junior right-hander ripped a towering solo home run over the left-field fence 200 feet away to break a scoreless tie in the sixth.

Just before Griffin dug into the batter’s box for her third at-bat, she heard a chant coming from the bleachers in left field--”Home run . . . Home run . . . Home run.”

It was a group of friends reminding her of the promise she made to them before the game.

“She told us before the game that she was going to hit a home run and give me the ball,” said Tom Ferralli, a friend of Griffin.

She did--on both counts. The home run was her seventh of the season.

Griffin (20-1) struck out 10, walked two and faced only two batters over the minimum.

“I had a good feeling coming into it this year,” Griffin said. “We’ve been here before and know what to expect.”

Michelle Schneider led off the fifth with a line-drive single up the middle for Los Alamitos to snap Griffin’s bid for a perfect game.

After a popout, Schneider moved to second on a groundout, but Griffin struck out Sheri Bergeron to end the threat.

Neither of the Los Alamitos players who walked advanced past first base.

The Pioneers (26-1-1), ranked No. 2 in the state by Cal-Hi Sports, squandered scoring opportunities in the third and fourth innings by stranding Kris Lufkin and Tracy Hansen, both of whom tripled.

Lufkin led off the third with a triple, but was thrown out two batters later trying to score on a ground ball to first baseman Debbie Wilson.

Hansen tripled down the right-field line with one out in the fourth, but Los Alamitos pitcher Carrie Dolan struck out Dayna Skinner and Yody Roache to retire the side.

Did Simi Valley Coach Suzanne Manlet believe the game would be decided on a home run?

“No, but you know, it was beautiful,” she said. “We knew something was going to come because we were making good contact.”

Dolan allowed four hits, struck out five and walked none.

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Atascadero 2, Temecula Valley 0--The Greyhounds (26-2) bunched four of their seven hits in the eighth inning to score two runs and held on to beat Temecula Valley (23-4-2) in the Division IV championship game.

Atascadero turned a pitching duel into a hit-athon by pounding four consecutive singles with one out in the eighth.

Melanie Tate’s single drove in Christine Skoda for the only run the Greyhounds would need.

Sara Sommers later scored on Reynani Rodriguez’s fielder’s choice.