Pacifica Wins on Soto No-Hitter

Jessica Soto pitched a no-hitter to lead Garden Grove Pacifica to its second consecutive Southern Section Division III softball title with a 6-0 victory over Brea Olinda on Friday night at Lakewood.

Soto (23-7), the only non-starter from last year’s title game, allowed only one batter to reach base, a leadoff walk to Erin Chang.

Pacifica (24-8) got only five hits against Brea Olinda’s Tiffany Whitton, but scored two runs in the third with the help of two errors, and four runs in the fifth inning. Nicole Pickett drove in one run with a single, and Wallace hit the other to the right-field fence to score three.

“This shows that it was the whole team, shows that we could stand on our own,” said Wallace, the center fielder who grabbed the only other ball that even came close to falling safely--a soft fly by Whitton in the first inning. “No one had any faith in us. This was our chance to prove to everyone that it wasn’t just one or two players who won the other titles.”

This was Brea’s first championship appearance, ending a long wait for 15-year Coach Sharen Caperton.