PREP SOFTBALL ROUNDUP : Mater Dei Gets a Break, Beats Laguna Hills, 2-0

The umpire was wrong, the runner was safe and the coach was livid.

Mater Dei’s softball team scored a 2-0 nonleague victory over host Laguna Hills Tuesday, getting the most out of a hit and run gone bad.

In what seems to be an officiating rarity, a base umpire conceded he was out of position and deferred to his partner, who overruled him--and what had been called an out at third base became a successful double steal that eventually led to two runs for No. 8 Mater Dei.

The crucial play took place in the third inning.. After Kendra Meano’s single and an error on Lisa Tully’s bouncer to the pitcher, Mater Dei Coach Doug Myers signaled for a hit and run. But Patty Godwin didn’t make contact and Meano was called out after the throw by catcher Sumer McMahon.

Or so it seemed.

Myers suggested to Jim Abraham--who made the call from the shortstop hole--that he was out of position to see the tag because Meano slid on her side and the tag was on the front of her thighs. Abraham met with home plate umpire John Bennett and, after a short discussion, Bennett said he had a better angle and from it, Meano was safe.

“I was really safe,” Meano said later. “I was totally safe.”

The call did not sit well with Laguna Hills Coach Cary Crouch. And it was even worse when, after Godwin struck out for what would have been the third out of the inning, left-handed batter Candace Kollen popped an outside pitch down the left-field line, doubling home Meano and Tully.

The Hawks were trying to pitch around Kollen, a .407 hitter.

Three pitches later, Kollen was thrown out trying to steal third with all parties in almost identical spots as the Meano play.

“You got a better angle?” Crouch yelled to Bennett. “You got a better angle?”

The Hawks got their only two hits--both in the infield--in the second inning, but failed to get another baserunner. Godwin retired the final 17 batters; she walked none and struck out four.

In other nonleague games:

Costa Mesa 8, Aliso Niguel 7--Sara Halverson’s sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh inning scored Raeme Payne with the winning run for Costa Mesa (4-5).

Stephanie Ruiz had two hits, five runs batted in and a home run for Aliso Niguel (6-6). Nicole Woody had four hits for Costa Mesa.

Capistrano Valley 7, Trabuco Hills 4--Jackie Anderson hit a seventh-inning home run for visiting Capistrano Valley (7-4), which scored four runs in the second inning.

Pacific Shores 12, Riverside Christian 0 (5, mercy)--Lauren Zeiner pitched a no-hitter with 13 strikeouts for Pacific Shores (1-0). She also hit two home runs and had five RBIs.

In the Garden Grove League:

Pacifica 1, Rancho Alamitos 0--Toni Mascarenas pitched a no-hitter with six strikeouts for host Pacifica (9-2, 3-0). She issued a one-out walk in the second inning, then retired the last 16 batters she faced. Kristin Freed had an RBI single to score Amy Smith in the third for Pacifica.

La Quinta 9, Los Amigos 1--Vanessa Borboa had two hits for visiting La Quinta (6-3, 3-0).

In the Sea View League:

Tustin 4, Irvine 3--A single by Erin Hayes scored Jenny Odum with the winning run to cap a four-run sixth-inning rally for Tustin (5-2, 3-0). Odum hit a two-run double earlier in the inning.

Woodbridge 3, University 1--Alison Johnsen had two hits, one run scored and a stolen base for host Woodbridge (11-3, 3-0). She has 170 stolen bases in her career, seven short of the Southern Section record.

In the Olympic League:

Whittier Christian 1, Brethren Christian 0--Debra Goddu pitched a shutout with six strikeouts and no walks for Whittier Christian (4-5, 3-0). Brethren Christian is 8-3, 1-2.

In the Sunset League:

Westminster 11, Edison 1--Westminster’s Kelly Hauxhurts was four for four with two RBIs, six stolen bases and a home run.

Jil Gaspar pitched a complete game, allowing seven hits, and Brenda Quinn had two hits, two RBIs and two stolen bases for Westminster (3-8, 1-2).

Ocean View 1, Foothill 0--Lisa Messick’s two-out double scored Tracy Wilkinson and Kathy Ponce pitched a three-hit shutout for the Seahawks (7-3).