Thousand Oaks Claims Third Place After 11

It’s time for the Troll to roll into the playoffs.

That would be the T.O. Troll, the three-inch, red-haired, plastic talisman of the Thousand Oaks High softball team. Before games the Lancers perform a team chant and kiss the Troll for luck. It spends home games wedged into the chain-link fence in front of the Thousand Oaks dugout.

The Troll saw a top-notch Marmonte League game Thursday as its caretakers defeated Simi Valley, 1-0, in 11 innings. The victory broke a third-place tie between the teams and earned Thousand Oaks (19-8, 9-5) the league’s final automatic berth in the Southern Section Division I playoffs, which begin next week.

Thousand Oaks used a typically dominant performance by pitcher Jennifer Sharron (18-7) and a one-out, run-scoring single by Justine Rachlin to claim its second extra-inning victory of the season over Simi Valley. The Pioneers (15-12, 8-6) will likely receive an at-large playoff berth.

Each team had its chances. Simi Valley had runners on first and second with none out in the sixth while Thousand Oaks stranded four runners, three in scoring position.

With one out in the 11th, Simi Valley pitcher Lori Tande fielded a ball hit by Erika Hanson and threw wildly to first. Hanson went to second on the play and stole third on the next pitch. Rachlin singled to right-center to score Hanson.

Tande (10-9) tossed a three-hitter with five strikeouts and one walk. Sharron allowed five hits, struck out 13 and walked one.