San Pedro Prevails, 1-0, but It Takes a While

In a game that stretched into two days because of brilliant defensive plays, perhaps it was inevitable.

The City Section softball championship came down to one simple mistake.

Third baseman Adrienne Alo of Carson High bobbled a ground ball with two out in the bottom of the 20th inning Wednesday allowing Marissa Gonzalez to score the winning run in San Pedro’s 1-0 victory in the City Championship final at South Gate Park.

It was the longest City final and the Pirates (23-5-1) earned their second title in three seasons.

After Gonzalez singled to start the inning, Jessica Ruiz loaded the bases two outs later with back-to-back walks.

Wynter Turner of San Pedro beat Alo’s throw to first by the slimmest of margins.

“The base seemed like it was 15 miles away,” Turner said. “I didn’t know what was going on until I saw our first-base coach jumping up and down.”

Natalie Tam (22-4) pitched the entire 20 innings tory for San Pedro.

Tam was suffering from a sore shoulder and back after pitching the first 16 innings Tuesday at UCLA.

“I was a little sore from [Tuesday], but I felt I would be ready,” Tam said. “With the adrenaline and everyone cheering us on, I just wanted to go out and play.”

Tam gave up 10 hits and finished with 10 strikeouts.

Coach Rosie Martinez of Carson, who watched the Colts (25-8) lose in the final for the second year in a row, said the atmosphere for the game was different than it was Tuesday at UCLA.

“We played the first seven innings and everyone seemed to settle in,” Martinez said. “But [Wednesday] it was a little more intense from the start.”

Coach Tony Dobra of San Pedro said it was an unusual feeling.

“It felt like the Twilight Zone,” he said. “It was a new day and a different location, but we had the same teams and coaches.”

He said it was one of the strangest games in his 20-year coaching career.

But he was happy with the way it ended.