Redlin Settles Down in Victory

Pitcher Ashley Redlin of El Camino Real High did not post her usual numbers Monday, but they were good enough to help the Conquistadores to a 1-0 victory over Kennedy in a Northwest Valley Conference softball opener.

Redlin (5-2), who entered the game averaging eight strikeouts and only one walk per outing, struck out four and walked four, emerging with a two-hitter despite struggling in the early innings.

El Camino Real (8-2) scored its run on a bases-loaded wild pitch by Patty Del Real when Redlin was batting in the fourth inning.

“[Redlin] wasn’t as overpowering as I expected her to be,” said Barbara Rodrigue, Kennedy’s first-year coach. “She was very deceptive, working inside and outside, and kept us off balance all day.”

Said Redlin: “The more I pitch, the better I get. I just needed to get out of the yucky groove I was in.”

Redlin complained that she kept slipping in the pitching circle during the early innings, contributing to her struggles.

Kennedy (8-1) failed to capitalize when Redlin loaded the bases in the second inning with three walks. El Camino Real Coach Neils Ludlow visited the circle to talk with his team, and Redlin responded by promptly getting out of the jam when Cynthia Barraza grounded out.

Unlike Redlin, Del Real (7-1) started the game strongly. The Kennedy left-hander made her first trip through the El Camino Real lineup look easy, inducing seven groundouts in the first three innings while keeping her pitches on the inside corner of the plate.

But when Del Real started pitching outside in the fourth inning, she immediately ran into trouble. Kristi Nicklaus singled to right field, Christina Enea walked on five pitches and Cara Blumfield singled off of Del Real’s leg to load the bases. The fourth pitch to Redlin was outside and in the dirt, allowing Nicklaus to score.

“I was hoping so bad she’d be safe, because runs are so hard to come by in a 0-0 game,” Redlin said.

Rodrigue understood there was more than conference bragging rights at stake, even though she was living outside of California when the Conquistadores defeated Kennedy for the City Section 4-A Division championship in 1996 and ’97.

“The kids know more than I do, but they all said this was the team we had problems with,” Rodrigue said.

Said Redlin: “It would have been a huge letdown for us if we hadn’t have won.”