PREP SOFTBALL ROUNDUP : Mater Dei Serves Notice With 3-0 Victory Over El Toro

El Toro coaches tip-toed around the idea that the Mater Dei game was any more important than the others on the Chargers’ South Coast League schedule.

But after El Toro’s 3-0 loss, it was pretty evident: The Mater Dei game is crucial to any team’s championship hopes.

The fifth-ranked Monarchs (14-3, 3-0) made that clear by beating pitcher Misty Lauby (11-5) and winning for the 10th time in their last 11 games.

The victory also stopped the county’s longest winning streak at six. El Toro fell to 14-8, 2-1.

“We wasted a great pitching performance by Misty,” said El Toro Coach Jim Daugherty, who watched Lauby strike out nine and give up seven hits. “You know exactly what they’re going to do--use their speed, their daring and aggressiveness, and if you aren’t up to the task, you get steamrolled.”

The Chargers got flattened in the fourth inning. Patty Godwin was hit by a pitch, and an error on Candace Kollen’s bunt put runners at first and third. Kollen stole second base, her 25th of the year, and Margaret Hollis singled down the left-field line to make it 2-0. Lauby escaped further damage by striking out the side.

Mater Dei added a run in the sixth inning when Kollen singled, stole second and eventually scored on a passed ball.

Meanwhile, the Chargers had trouble mounting a threat against Godwin (11-2) and her defense. She pitched a four-hitter and struck out two. Only one batter got past first base, but Kim Martin was thrown out at third after rounding the bag too wide on the second of Dana Gulick’s two singles.

Mater Dei’s Michelle Zerucha was on the only other player with two hits.

“This was a great win because we beat a quality team on their field with a great pitcher,” Monarch Coach Doug Myers said.

Said Hollis, who is batting .400: “We faced them like we faced all our games; we came out ready to play.”