One Wild Inning Costs Fountain Valley

As showdowns go, this one was pretty good.

Moreno Valley Valley View’s Keira Goerl, fresh off a perfect game against second-seeded Foothill, was facing Fountain Valley’s Natalie King, fresh off a 24-strikeout, 13-inning no-hitter.

Had it not been for a third-inning lapse, the power pitchers might have dueled for hours.

But a hit batsman and a walk--both with the bases loaded--provided the necessary scoring for Valley View to advance to the Southern Section Division I softball championship with a 2-0 victory over Fountain Valley.

The Eagles (28-2) play for the section title Friday or Saturday (the section office will decide today) against Mater Dei, a 4-0 winner over Thousand Oaks.

Fountain Valley, which opened the season 2-5, finished 24-8.

King (12-5), who hadn’t given up a run in 74 innings going into the game, cruised into the third inning before No. 9 hitter Stephanie Cranmer got an infield single. After getting ahead 0-2 against Blair Smith, King threw four balls. An ill-advised attempt to throw out Cranmer at third base on a sacrifice bunt loaded the bases.

On the next pitch, King drilled Kimmie Tillery in the thigh, forcing in Cranmer. Valley View scored its first run against Foothill, also a 2-0 victory, the same way.

Tillery, a sophomore, said she could have gotten out of the way of King’s pitch, but stood perfectly still, “because I’m a team player.

“It was well worth it.”

King walked cleanup batter Kristina Harvin on a full count, forcing in another run.

King struck out the next three.

“She lost her control for two or three batters; other than that, she was throwing good with no defense behind her,” Baron Coach Cary Baker said. “The bottom line is we didn’t score any runs.”

Fountain Valley committed four errors behind King, who surrendered three hits and struck out 10. She walked four. Valley View had a runner on base every inning.

Goerl (22-1) also struck out 10. She lost her bid for back-to-back perfect games when No. 8 hitter Inez Vasquez walked in the third inning, and lost her bid for a ninth no-hitter when Nicole Rambis singled with one out in the fifth.

But Rambis got picked off first base by catcher Sara Kline, a huge play because Sarah Leon singled on the next pitch.

Fountain Valley threatened in the sixth inning. With one out, Colleen Burdick singled, Jenny Doezie walked and Tiffani Miller singled. That brought up freshman cleanup hitter (and designated hitter) Christina Skaggs.

But Skaggs struck out, and senior Rocky Staniorski grounded into the hole at shortstop, ending the inning as Smith flipped to third base for a force out.

“I had the two kids that I wanted up at the plate,” Baker said. “[Goerl] just did a good job.’