SOUTHERN SECTION SOFTBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS : Camarillo Bottoms Out in Sixth, 3-1

Camarillo High Coach Nichole Victoria has a luxury most softball coaches imagine only in their dreams.

For three days, since the Scorpions’ semifinal victory over top-seeded Foothill, Victoria agonized over which of her two aces would fare better against second-seeded Mater Dei in Saturday’s Southern Section Division I championship game.

Breaking the rotation, the nod went to sophomore right-hander Cindy Ball. And the victory went to Mater Dei.

In front of a capacity crowd of 2,800 at Mayfair Park, Mater Dei (30-1) overcame a one-run deficit to defeat Camarillo, 3-1.

Despite the loss, Victoria did not second-guess herself.

“We’ve been thinking about it all week, but we made the decision and that’s it,” Victoria said. “We’re not going to say, ‘What if?’ because we had a great season. They had a couple of good key hits, and that’s all it was.”

The Monarchs’ Monica Lucatero slugged a two-run double in the bottom of the sixth to drive in Robin Walker and Marissa Young for a 3-1 lead.

Walker reached first on an infield single and Young, who had been hit by a pitch in the fourth, was hit again to put runners at first and second.

Ball (12-2), who had struck out 147 in 107 innings before facing Mater Dei, allowed six hits--five in the fifth and sixth innings.

Victoria decided to start Ball over senior right-hander Melanie Richardson, who would have started if Victoria stuck to her rotation.

But after considering Mater Dei’s strengths and weaknesses, Victoria thought Ball, a power pitcher, would fare better than Richardson, a junk pitcher who has an 11-1 record with 138 strikeouts in 92 innings.

Camarillo (23-3-1), seeded fourth, scored in the third inning. Tommee Payan singled with one out and advanced to second on a sacrifice by Allison Taverner.

Brooke Rutschman hit a chopper to shortstop Walker, but first baseman Lucatero dropped the ball and Payan scored on the error.

Mater Dei (30-1), which lost only to Foothill in a tournament game, tied the score in the fifth.

Kelsey Kollen’s infield single scored Lainie Horne, but Shealee Dunavan was thrown out at the plate by first baseman Jessica Ziese.

Young (18-1), who had not allowed a hit in 25 postseason innings before Payan singled in the third, allowed two hits, both in the third. The freshman right-hander struck out nine and walked two.