Softball / DIVISION I

Mater Dei vs. Moreno Valley Valley View

Where--Mayfair Park, Lakewood, 7:30 p.m.

Valley View (28-2)--The Eagles are playing in their first championship game. They lost in the 1994 and ’95 semifinals, both times to La Canada in 14 innings. This season, Valley View beat Fountain Valley, 2-0, in the semifinals after perhaps the section’s most impressive playoff performance: Keira Goerl (22-1, 0.05) pitched a perfect game against second-seeded Foothill in a 2-0 victory. Goerl gave up one earned run this season, three overall and none in the playoffs. Valley View’s losses this season were to Moreno Valley, which is playing for the Division II title, and Temecula Valley, a game in which Goerl did not pitch.

Mater Dei (28-4)--The Monarchs are trying to win their third title in four years. Senior Marissa Young (15-2, 0.23), who pitched Mater Dei’s championship victory as a freshman, hasn’t given up a run in 29 playoff innings, since relieving Tia Bollinger in the first round. Bollinger (12-2, 0.28, .316 batting average), who is still feeling the effects of an automobile accident that has kept her from pitching, won’t bat either, though she will play first base. Third baseman Ruby Rojas (.320, 11 runs, 10 RBIs), the cleanup batter, left Wednesday for Venezuela to join that country’s national team for an Olympic qualifying tournament. Rojas is replaced by freshman Lauren Ortega. Mater Dei hasn’t given up a run in the playoffs.

1-0.

Key to the game--The conventional thinking is that the longer the game is scoreless, or tied, the more it favors Mater Dei and Young.

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Starting Lineups

VALLEY VIEW

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3 Blair Smith SS 12 Casey Smith CF 4 Kimmie Tillery RF 16 Kristina Harvin 3B 15 Katie Junge 1B 17 Elena Cranmer 2B 14 Sara Kline C 7 Sarah Kammer DH 11 Stephanie Cranmer LF 12 Keira Goerl P

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Coach: Mary Partida

MATER DEI

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No. Name Pos. Avg. 77 Marissa Young P .378 17 Christina Clark SS .302 22 Courtney Betley CF .407 7 Jessica Young LF .295 14 Jessica Gonzalez C .227 11 Riki Paredes DP .260 20 Allison Solis RF .262 2 Casey Phillips 2B .210 15 Lauren Ortega 3B .273 24 Tia Bollinger 1B .316

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Coach: Ed Ulloa

Softball / DIVISION IV

Pomona Catholic vs. Calvary Chapel

Where--Mayfair Park, Lakewood, 10 a.m.

Pomona Catholic (18-9)--The third-seeded Pacers come from the strong Mt. Baldy League--in fact, league champion Rancho Cucamonga was seeded No. 3 in Division I--and Pomona Catholic benefits against lower Division V competition in the playoffs. Katie Swertfager (11-5, 0.45 ERA) has 153 strikeouts in 109 innings but has improved her ratio in the playoffs, striking out 53 in 26 innings. The Pacers also raised their team batting average, from .200 to .232, in four playoff games. Pomona Catholic has won eight of its last nine games and 11 of its last 14, including a 1-0 semifinal victory over second-seeded Orange Lutheran.

Calvary Chapel (16-7)--The unseeded Eagles have won the last two section titles, but their appearance this season comes as a surprise. They struggled early in the season, losing four of their first five games, and then-coach Rose Imbriano resigned. They eventually regrouped and by the end of the season, defeated Olympic League champion Orange Lutheran (seeded No. 2 in the division). After a 30-0 victory over Anza Hamilton in the first round, Calvary Chapel defeated Lancaster Paraclete in nine innings, 5-3, and upset fourth-seeded Thousand Oaks La Reina, 3-2. The Eagles’ 1-0 semifinal victory came against L.A. Baptist, the team that upset top-seeded Santa Maria St. Joseph. Sarah Hughes (7-3, 1.12) pitched last year’s title game, a 1-0 victory over Orange Lutheran.

Key to the game--One side seems to have the pitching advantage pitching, the other has the hitting advantage. Defense, and which team gets second chances to score, probably determines the outcome.

Starting Lineups

POMONA CATHOLIC

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No. Name Pos. Avg. 11 Nicole Sparks 2B .366 7 Cecilia Delgado CF .190 38 Kim Ayala 1B .213 19 Jessica Gandara RF .277 14 Katie Swertfager P .324 20 Andrea Bausch C .190 3 Kelly Silagyi SS .227 23 Jennifer Lopez DP .231 13 Stephanie Zamarano LF .100 12 Cindy Castro 3B .158

*--*

Coach: Roger Wallace

CALARY CHAPEL

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No. Name Pos. Avg. 1 Lindsey Stice CF .424 10 Kori Przygocki 3B .461 25 Anna Jones LF .449 32 Amanda Hallaway 1B .476 15 Jackie Beadle 2B .352 5 Sarah Hughes P .424 20 Chelsea Caraway SS .254 18 Richeal Werdel RF .225 21 Lindsey Dyer C .166

*--*

Coach: Donna King

Today’s other games--Moreno Valley (23-8) vs. Cerritos (25-7), Division II final at Mayfair Park, 1 p.m.

Boron (24-0) vs. Camarillo Cornerstone Christian (22-6), Division VI final at Mayfair Park, 4:30 p.m.