Mater Dei Takes Title at Canyon

After upsetting a highly-rated Division IV team in the semifinals of the Canyon softball tournament, El Modena had to face the second-ranked Division I team in Wednesday’s championship game.

Bigger school, tougher pitcher, different result.

Mater Dei pitcher Marissa Young surrendered only one hit and the second-ranked Monarchs defeated El Modena, 5-0, at Peralta Park in Anaheim Hills.

El Modena (11-6) put only six balls in play against Young, who struck out 17, including the first 10, and didn’t allow a hit until Becky Deems’ one-out triple in the sixth inning.

Young (8-1) admitted she was disappointed about losing the no-hitter.

“I knew I made a pitch I shouldn’t have made,” she said. “I made a mistake.”

Young didn’t make a lot of mistakes against El Modena, and her performance helped Mater Dei exceed the expectations of Coach Rhonda Weyer. The Monarchs reached the championship with a semifinal victory over top-seeded Corona Centennial, the second-ranked team in the Southern Section Division IV.

“We wanted to play well,” Weyer said. “We came from behind in every game except the first.”

And the last.

Mater Dei (15-1) scored once in the second and twice in the third and fourth innings against Courtney Heil (9-6). Heil struck out the first three batters, but didn’t get another strikeout until the seventh inning. In between were 11 hits, including a triple, a double and a single by Young and four walks.

Lisa Tully and Margaret Hollis also had run-scoring singles.

Young, a freshman, was selected the tournament’s outstanding pitcher.

“[A no-hitter] is always in the back of your mind, but if you focus on that, then you lose focus of the things you have to do to get you there,” she said. “I just try to focus on making quality pitches.”