Clark Gives Foothill Gift on Her Birthday

Jaime Clark celebrated her 18th birthday Wednesday by driving in her 16th run, and the icing on the cake was that it provided a 1-0 nonleague victory for fourth-ranked Foothill over second-ranked Pacifica.

Clark, who had only six RBIs last season, made good on a no-ball, two-strike pitch in the bottom of the first inning, driving the ball cleanly through the right side.

Foothill improved to 10-3. Pacifica dropped to 9-2.

“It was low and away and I had two strikes on me, and I was just looking to drive whatever pitch [Jessica Soto] threw, and I got fortunate,” said Clark, who was batting .400. “I am not going to have a year like I did last year.”

Clark had 31 and 32 RBIs as a freshman and sophomore. She batted only .259 last season.

Foothill pitcher Courtney Fossatti (7-1) escaped a tough spot in the fifth inning after Mallorie Lenn opened with a double and took third on a ground out. Tiffany Wallace and Julie Jordan struck out looking.

“It boils down to execution,” said Pacifica Coach Rob Weil, whose team has won consecutive Southern Section Division III titles. “You don’t deserve to win if you just look at the ball.”

“I know they’re both very good players,” said Fossatti, who struck out five. “I was surprised both of them looked at third strikes.”

Toria Auelua, who had two of Pacifica’s three hits, was at second base with one out in the seventh, but held on a grounder to third base. Second baseman Eryn Manahan fielded Nicole Pickett’s smash on the right side to end the game.

“She made it look easy,” marveled Foothill Coach Joe Gonzalez.

Manahan had arthroscopic knee surgery only three weeks earlier; it was her first start.

In nonleague softball:

No. 10 Kennedy 2, Los Alamitos 1--Crystal Eubanks struck out 13 and gave up four hits for host Kennedy (6-4). Michelle Turner drove in both Fighting Irish runs with sacrifice flies.

Canyon 5, Valencia 4 (9 innings)--Lisa Hatter hit a leadoff double in the top of the ninth and scored the winning run from third on a base hit by Rebekah Anderson. Hatter had a double, triple and two singles for Canyon (10-5-1).

Meghan Goldstein had a two-out, two-run single with the bases loaded in Canyon’s four-run fifth to tie the score, 4-4.

Huntington Beach 1, Westminster 1 (12 innings; HB wins on forfeit)--Huntington Beach (5-7) claimed a forfeit victory after a 12-inning tie when the Westminster team was forced to leave because of a time conflict with the evening’s girls’ soccer team banquet.

San Clemente 2, Aliso Niguel 1 (10 innings)--Christy Bennett, who reached on an error, scored the winning run in the bottom of the 10th on a bases-loaded walk.