Hart Can’t Hit Gillies Hard Enough : Softball: She survives three body shots, Saugus wins on bases-loaded walk in eighth, 1-0.

Three times Jamie Gillies felt the sting of a comebacker.

Three times Gillies, a junior right-hander for Saugus High, survived being hit.

Thanks largely to Gillies’ tenacity, Saugus outlasted Hart again, scoring a run in the bottom of the eighth inning on a bases-loaded walk for a 1-0 victory in a Foothill League softball game Thursday night at the Hart Softball Complex.

Saugus (22-4, 12-0) has three one-run victories over the Indians in as many games. Hart (19-8, 7-4) will play Canyon today for second place.

“I’m not sure I have the answer,” Hart Coach Al Weil said of the Indians’ 0-3 record against Saugus. “We play with them every time. But they’re a very solid team.”

The Indians might have had more success had they been able to knock Gillies from the pitcher’s circle. Gillies (17-4) pitched a three-hitter with six strikeouts and one walk.

Gillies was stung in three of the first four innings by sharp comebackers that caromed off her arms and leg. She was not injured.

“I got hit on the right hand, I got hit on the left hand and I got hit on the hip,” Gillies said. “But I was all right.”

The Centurions nullified the first two plays by throwing in time to first base. In the fourth, Jennie Nordhagen led off by singling off the pitcher’s hip.

Nordhagen advanced on a sacrifice and a wild pitch, but Gillies escaped on a groundout and a popup. That was as close as Hart came to scoring.

“Our defense has been playing great,” Saugus Coach Ron Hilton said. “I’d rather be hitting a little better, heading into playoffs. But Hart had us scouted very well.”

Hart’s Mary Colleran (18-7) scattered eight hits but pitched out of trouble until the eighth.

Nicole Giordano and Jill Passafiume opened the inning with singles. Kelli Kranz, whose home run off Colleran provided the margin of victory in a game two weeks ago, sacrificed the runners along.

Chris Gill, who homered off Colleran in Saugus’ first victory over Hart, was walked intentionally.

That brought up Jeanine Giordano, who wasn’t looking for a walk but got one anyway.

“Heck no, I was looking to kill it,” Giordano said. “She walked (Gill) to get to me, so I was ticked off. It’s kind of an incentive.”

Colleran appeared to pitch out with a 2-and-1 count to Giordano. Hart catcher Nordhagen threw to third, trying to nail Nicole Giordano.

But Weil said a pitchout was not called. “I’ve been asked that four times,” Weil said. “It was not a pitchout.”