Paraclete Willing to Take the 5th : Division V softball: Spirits, four-time losers in finals, face Cerritos Valley Christian for title.

A championship is past due, Paraclete High softball Coach Margaret Neill says.

Paraclete is making its fifth appearance in 14 years in a Southern Section final and the team still is looking for its first title.

Neill, in her 15th year at Paraclete, doesn’t intend to be a five-time runner-up. The Spirits (24-5) will face Cerritos Valley Christian (23-3-1) in the Division V final today at 2:30 p.m. at Mayfair Park in Lakewood.

Paraclete, winner of the High Desert League title the past 16 seasons, reached the second round of the playoffs last year. Six starters return from that team.

“Maybe that’s what is driving us,” Neill said. “We exited earlier than we wanted to (last year).”

Paraclete is paced by two Division I recruits. Senior ace Jamie Johnston (18-5), a right-hander who has signed with Central Michigan, averages nearly nine strikeouts a game and has a 0.60 earned-run average.

The other half of the battery is catcher Ashley Gayer, a four-year starter who will play for Indiana next year. Gayer, the leadoff hitter, led the team with a .480 average.

Sophomore Kristal Nessa (.420) and senior Adrian Bates (.380) are two of eight starters batting better than .300.

Paraclete will face a formidable opponent in Cerritos Valley Christian, which is unbeaten in 24 games after starting the season with three losses.

The Crusaders, who also have never won a softball title, are making their second appearance in a championship game--19 years after their first. They are three-time defending Olympic League champions and have lost in the semifinals to the eventual section champion in each of the past two seasons. This year is quite different, Coach Eleanor Dykstra said.

“They came out on a mission and they haven’t disappointed,” Dykstra said.

Sophomore left-hander Susie Schoales is 15-2 and has pitched 87 consecutive scoreless innings. The Crusaders are led by Sara Van Diest, Erin Fluck, Angela Robinson and Cindy Dykstra, the coach’s daughter.