Rosson Helps Calabasas Expand Frontier

In girls’ softball circles, the Frontier League doesn’t have the best reputation.

Maybe that’s why a lot of people expected league champion Calabasas High to have difficulty in its Southern Section Division III playoff opener against Westlake of the highly regarded Marmonte League.

Well, it wasn’t without a struggle, but the Coyotes finally scored on a one-out single by Candy Wang to outlast the Warriors, 1-0, in nine innings Friday.

The victory was even more impressive considering Calabasas (16-8) played without its top two offensive players, catcher Sara Hall and infielder Heather Bell.

Hall, who has a .486 batting average, has been out with a shoulder injury and may not play again this season and Bell, a .361 hitter, missed the game because she was attending her grandmother’s funeral.

Bell will return for her team’s second-round game Tuesday.

In the meantime, Calabasas gained a measure of respect without her.

With their offense depleted, the Coyotes turned to junior pitcher Amy Rosson and she responded brilliantly.

Rosson (16-6) tossed a three-hit shutout, struck out 11 and walked only one.

“I felt more pressure today because (Westlake) is in a lot better league than ours,” said Rosson, who entered the game with a 0.42 earned-run average. “People expected us to lose, but we proved them wrong.”

Rosson said it wasn’t her best performance of the season, but it was more than enough to hold off the Warriors (18-10) until the Calabasas offense awakened.

For eight innings, it didn’t appear as if that would ever happen.

During that span, Westlake pitcher Erin Voeltz (17-7) struck out 16, gave up just two hits and did not allow a runner to advance past second base.

That was before freshman second baseman Carly Weinstein led off the bottom of the ninth with a line drive up the middle--her third single of the game--and promptly stole second base.

Weinstein reached third on a sacrifice by first baseman Danielle Dryer and scored when Wang drilled a single off second baseman Katie Kearns.

“That’s why she’s leading off,” Calabasas Coach Gina Hairapetian said. “She’s good at getting things started and today she had three hits.”

It was a disappointing ending for the Warriors, who reached the Southern Section playoffs for the first time since 1995.

Westlake, in its first season under Coach Barbara Jordan, went 16-2 to start the season before losing its final six games and eight of its last 10.

That is not the case for the Coyotes, who enter the second round with momentum and new-found respect.

“I think we can go all the way to the finals because that’s a pretty good team we beat,” Rosson said.