Foothill Dashes Past Canyon, 3-0

There might not be a faster softball team in Orange County than Foothill, and the Knights used their team speed Tuesday to all but sew up the Century League.

The Knights, ranked No. 1 in Orange County, put the finishing touches on their first round of league play, beating second-place Canyon, 3-0, at Hillview School. The Knights have a two-game lead in the race for the title.

The Knights are 21-2, 5-0 in league. Canyon is 15-9, 3-2, and tied for second.

And Foothill’s team speed was evident once again. Two stolen bases led to two runs, and a batter’s quickness down the first-base line was responsible for an error that led to another run.

“Teams get so intimidated by speed,” said Lauren Bauer, one of the speediest. “It definitely causes other teams to make a lot more errors.”

Bauer helped the Knights get pitcher Marie Gieron (14-2) the only run she needed in the first inning. Bauer singled off Lopez’s glove, stole second base and then scored on Lindsay Fossatti’s line drive to center field.

Bauer also began a two-run fifth inning when she bunted and Lopez (9-6) threw the ball past first base. Bauer was bunted to third by Fossatti, and scored on Robin Tessman’s single. Tessman stole second and scored on Gieron’s single.

“We’re preparing for CIF and trying to raise our level of play,” Bauer said. “A lot more people are making contributions--it’s a different person all the time.”

Foothill got seven hits--all by different batters, and three players had runs batted in.

Gieron surrendered four hits and struck out seven.