SOFTBALL / PAIGE A. LEECH : Moonlighting Champions Stayed Awake Just Long Enough

While the general population of Normal, Ill., slept in the wee hours of the morning, two determined California 16-and-under Amateur Softball Assn. teams were battling under the moonlight for a national championship.

Never mind that Gordon’s Panthers and the San Diego Lightning had been playing since noon. To win the title, players had to worry about more than maintaining top performances. They had to stay awake.

By the time the Panthers emerged from the 73-team field with the national title in hand, it was 3 a.m. A few more innings and players would have missed their early morning flights back to California.

Because heavy rains washed out most of Saturday’s games, tournament organizers scheduled two days’ worth of action on Sunday. And numerous extra-inning games further delayed play.

Because the schedule was so disrupted, the Panthers played four games and never left the field after their first game--which was played at noon.

Despite the long day and late-night, early morning competition, the Panthers showed no signs of fatigue, according to Coach Dale Moore.

“To be totally honest with you, the girls play better at night,” Moore said. “And they wanted to win it.”

Most of the Panthers live in Orange County, but three area players--Canyon High’s Crystl Bustos, Alemany’s Jamie Moore and Buena’s Bevan Trueblood--played key roles in the championship game. Each scored a run in the 3-0 victory over the Lightning.

The Panthers (37-2) breezed through the early rounds, recording eight-run, mercy-rule victories in all three games.

In the championship bracket, the Panthers were 6-0 before losing, 1-0, to the Lightning in a game that was scheduled for 7:30 p.m. but didn’t begin until 11:30. That forced one final early-morning championship game.

Bustos, The Times’ Valley player of the year, was the guiding force in the Panthers’ tournament championship. Bustos, a shortstop entering her senior year, led the team with a .556 batting average, 15 hits and seven runs batted in.

Moore, a catcher who also will be a senior, hit .500 with six RBIs. Trueblood batted .261.

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Third wish: Except for Jamie Gillies’ bout with food poisoning, all went about as planned for the 16-and-under Woodland Hills-based Stealth, according to Coach Wes Goodin.

The Stealth, making its first national appearance, finished third in the Illinois tournament. And Goodin couldn’t be more pleased.

“We ended up exactly where we thought we would,” Goodin said. “Gordon’s Panthers were by far the best team around and San Diego Lightning was about a notch below them.

“We got what we were hoping for. We thought with the right draw (staying away from the California teams early) that we could go out and take third place,” he said.

The Stealth (63-15) cruised through its first five opponents, outscoring teams from Washington, Oklahoma, Kansas, Florida and Illinois, 15-1.

Unfortunately, the Stealth then ran into the California teams, losing to the Panthers, 1-0, and the Lightning, 3-1, in eight innings.

Gillies, a Saugus High standout and defending Southern Section Division II player of the year who suffered from food poisoning and sat out one day, was 3-1 in the tournament with three shutouts.

Becky Witt, who will be a sophomore at Louisville High, led the Stealth with a .409 batting average. Chatsworth’s Parisa Plant batted .364 and El Camino Real’s Ramona Shelburne hit .294. Of the 16 runs scored by the Stealth, Reseda’s Rosie Yates drove in eight.

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Game of inches: A timely hit here or there might have been the difference between a first- and ninth-place finish in the 12-and-under ASA national championship in Greenwood, Ind., last weekend, according to Don Harris, coach of the Stealth.

“The difference between the No. 1 team and No. 9 is probably inches--maybe a base hit,” said Harris, whose team placed ninth in the 73-team field.

Stealth ace Maureen LeCocq allowed only one walk in 36 innings, but that batter later scored on a wild pitch to help the San Diego Power beat the Stealth, 1-0, in an elimination game.

LeCocq, who struck out 40 and allowed just five hits, did not allow a hit in the Stealth’s first three victories.

“Maureen had an exceptional tournament,” Harris said.

After beating the Chattanooga Hurricanes for a fourth consecutive victory, the Stealth lost its final two games.

“If we would have gotten a key hit in any of the two games we lost, we would have won it,” Harris said.

The Stealth (42-11), based in Woodland Hills, has a final chance this summer to win a fifth tournament title. The Stealth is competing in the Junior Olympic Invitational in Honolulu this week.