Wolverines, Quartz Hill Storm Into Desert Final

It was payback time on Saturday at the High Desert Classic at Lancaster City Park.

Harvard-Westlake and Quartz Hill highs avenged recent losses and advanced to the final of one of the region’s top softball tournaments.

They will play for the championship on Monday at 6 p.m.

Harvard-Westlake rallied for a 5-2 semifinal victory over Highland, a team that defeated the Wolverines, 6-0, two weeks earlier in the Hart tournament semifinals.

Quartz Hill pulled off a 5-1 victory over Valencia in the other semifinal. The Rebels lost to Valencia, 3-0, in a nonleague game last week.

Quartz Hill (8-4), which also defeated Arcadia, 13-6, had 24 hits in two games.

“We’re hitting like a house on fire right now,” said co-Coach Ben Meyer, whose team is seeking its third consecutive High Desert title. “We can put a lot of hitters in the lineup.”

Catcher Ashlie D’Errico staked Highland (6-4) to a 1-0 lead with a home run in the fourth inning and Keri Pulsipher’s run-scoring double in the sixth made it 2-0.

In the bottom of the inning, Harvard-Westlake (9-1) exploded for five runs and six hits.

Lisa Feigenbaum tied the score, 2-2, with a two-run double and scored the go-ahead run on a squeeze by pitcher Anna Russell (8-0).

“Our team deserves a lot of credit,” said Russell, who allowed only four hits against one of the region’s best offensive teams. “No one got down on themselves. We just battled.”

In other Division I tournament games:

* Crescenta Valley 5, Arcadia 3--Meredith Cervenka (10-1) pitched a two-hitter with 12 strikeouts and one walk to help the Falcons (10-1) rebound from a second-round loss.

Valencia 1, Crescenta Valley 0--The Vikings (8-3) established themselves as the Cinderella team of the tournament by upsetting The Times’ No. 1 team in the region.

Freshman Danyale Peterson’s run-scoring single with two out in the bottom of the seventh gave the Vikings (8-3) an improbable quarterfinal victory over All-Valley pitcher Cervenka.

The run was unearned, allowing Cervenka, who had 13 strikeouts, to extend her streak of consecutive innings without allowing an earned run to 137.

Crescenta Valley is 9-1.

Michelle Smith of Valencia (5-3) pitched a four-hitter.

Harvard-Westlake 5, Paraclete 1--Kim Koral had two hits and Russell struck out seven for the Wolverines in a quarterfinal victory.

Highland 10, Lancaster 0--Pulsipher had three hits and two runs batted in, and Sandy Delestre had two hits for the Bulldogs in a quarterfinal game called after five innings because of the 10-run rule.

Quartz Hill 13, Arcadia 6--Jamie Booth had four hits and six RBIs, and Olaya Salazar added three hits for the Rebels in a quarterfinal victory.

Lancaster 2, Paraclete 1--Tara Jensen’s run-scoring single in the sixth inning broke a 1-1 tie.

Lancaster is 7-6.

Burbank Burroughs 2, Ridgecrest Burroughs 1--Lynee Hastings’ run-scoring double in the fifth was the winner for the Indians (8-3) in a consolation semifinal.

Canyon 14, Louisville 1--Sonia Zapata had two hits and three RBIs for the Cowboys (9-4) in a consolation quarterfinal.

Burbank Burroughs 4, Alemany 1--Senior Malia Sullivan (6-2) out-dueled sister Kalani Sullivan (1-1), a freshman, in a consolation game.

Malia pitched a two-hitter and struck out eight. Kalani allowed four hits and blanked the Indians after a four-run first inning.

Canyon 1, Silverado 0--Erika Owen had a run-scoring single in the fourth for the Cowboys in a consolation game.

Alemany 3, Apple Valley 0--Sarita Contreras pitched a three-hitter and the Indians (5-5) scored three times in the bottom of the sixth in a consolation game.

Louisville 7, Sultana 4--Christine Jordt had two hits and three RBIs for the Royals (5-6) in a consolation victory.

In Division II games:

Burbank 4, Granite Hills 3--Leslie Alfaro scored on a fielder’s choice in the bottom of the eighth of a semifinal game.

Kristin Talamantes’ run-scoring single in the seventh pulled Burbank (9-2) even, 3-3.

Burbank plays LaSalle on Monday in the division championship game.

Palmdale 12, Antelope Valley 5--The Falcons rallied from a 4-1 deficit to defeat their Golden League rivals in a quarterfinal game.

Palmdale lost to LaSalle in a semifinal game and Antelope Valley lost to Mojave, 8-1, in a consolation game.

Burbank 2, Glendale 0--Emily Brower pitched a two-hitter for the Bulldogs (8-2) in a quarterfinal victory.

Glendale lost to Victor Valley, 14-7, in another game.

Chatsworth 4, Littlerock 1--Cassie Shires struck out eight for the Chancellors (7-7) in a consolation victory.

The Chancellors later lost to Garfield, 9-8, in a consolation game.

Littlerock lost to Rosamond, 4-2, in a consolation game.