Antelope Valley Unnerves Rio Hondo, 7-0, Claims Foothill Title : College softball: Marauders take second conference championship in a row. Meyer wins 20th, strikes out 14.

Knowing you can’t do worse than at least a tie for first place has a way of keeping you from getting nervous.

The Antelope Valley College softball team, already assured of no worse than a co-championship in the Foothill Conference, took the field Wednesday at Marie Kerr Park feeling no pressure and cruised to a 7-0 victory over Rio Hondo to claim the title.

It is the second consecutive conference championship for the Marauders (40-9, 11-1 in conference play), who went into the game with a one-game lead over second-place Chaffey.

“We are playing a (California) state-level of ball,” Marauder Coach Gene Pagliaro said. “We want to win the regional and the state. This is the first step of the three big steps.”

The regionals will be held May 13-14. The Marauders hope to play host to one of those and advance to the state tournament May 20-22.

They might have taken another important step toward that goal with their shutout of Rio Hondo (10-15, 4-8) in a game controlled by right-hander Heather Meyer.

Meyer, a sophomore from Quartz Hill High, improved to 20-5 with a five-hit, 14-strikeout performance. And she also inflicted some damage with her bat.

With one out in the first inning and the Marauders leading, 1-0, Meyer clobbered a pitch from right-hander Vicky Elias (7-10) over the head of center fielder Jessica Treat for a two-run triple.

She also singled in the fifth and scored on a sacrifice fly by Christina Smith that gave Antelope Valley a 6-0 cushion.

Left fielder Tiffany Lanier and second baseman Donna Villa (an RBI triple) each had two hits for the Marauders.