PREP ROUNDUP : Rosary Takes Lead in Softball Race

Rosary first won a close game, and then blew out Westminster to take control of the Golden West League softball race.

The Royals swept, 2-0 and 13-4, Friday at Westminster to move into first place. Westminster (8-7, 6-3), which beat Rosary in the first meeting, was in first place before Friday’s games and dropped into third after losing twice.

“All along we were looking at this as the battle for first place,” Rosary Coach Tom Tice said. “We went into our last meeting unprepared (referring to an 8-4 loss March 22).”

The Royals (14-6, 7-2) came out prepared in the first game behind a two-hit shutout by Julie Luna. Rosary scored the only run it needed in the fourth inning when Regina Martin’s double drove in Lesley Fulton, who had walked to lead off the inning.

Rosary scored again when Fulton walked--the fourth of the inning issued by Brenda Quinn--and forced in Anna Villalpando.

“We used the (March 22) loss as motivation for the rest of the season,” Tice said. “The win in the first game only added to our momentum.”

In the second game, the Royals scored 13 runs on 17 hits. Theresa Cronin was four for four with four runs scored. Fulton and Robyn Leonhardt each had three hits and three runs batted in.

Rosary plays Saddleback twice next week and then Santa Ana and Tustin in the following weeks, all teams Rosary already has beaten.

Westminster trails Rosary and Ocean View (5-2-1 in league) and will play Ocean View, which defeated Westminster, 5-3, in their first meeting, twice in the last week of the season.