Fossatti Baffles Valley’s Best, Foothill Breaks Hart’s Streak

Foothill’s Courtney Fossatti said she knew after one pitch that she brought her A game. It may have taken Newhall Hart batters a little longer, but they eventually figured it out, too.

Fossatti turned the matchup between Orange County’s top-ranked team and the Times’ Valley Edition’s top-ranked team into a personal showcase, striking out 12 in a one-hit, 1-0 victory over Hart Saturday in a pool-play game of the Foothill Invitational softball tournament at Foothill.

Fossatti, coming off a perfect game Thursday against Santa Ana Valley, was even more impressive given the level of competition. Hart (14-2), ranked No. 8 in the state to Foothill’s No. 2, managed only two runners, and one of those was thrown out trying to steal. Fossatti faced only one batter over the minimum in ending Hart’s 10-game winning streak.

“She was the best we’ve faced this year,” said Hart assistant coach Steve Calendo, who filled in for head Coach Cathy Giordano.

Fossatti (10-1) struck out five of the first six batters she faced, including five in a row, before Lorian Jenkins singled up the middle.

“The hit they got, Fossatti jammed [Jenkins] and she muscled it into [center] field,” Foothill Coach Joe Gonzalez said. “Fossatti was awesome.”

Hart’s only other runner, Sara Dean, reached on a one-out error in the fourth inning. Fossatti struck out six of the next eight batters, retiring 10 in a row.

“I knew it was a big game,” said Fossatti, who has two perfect games this season. “That first pitch was a strike and I just built off that momentum. [Catcher] Jamie Dotson did a great job behind the plate.”

Autumn Champion had a good view from center field of Fossatti’s 92 pitches, 62 of them strikes. “She was hitting her spots really well, and really put the pressure on them,” Champion said.

It was Champion who got the decisive hit for Foothill, driving home Tiffany Haas in the second inning with a soft line drive over the second baseman. It was one of four hits in the inning against Hart’s Casey Pickard (8-1), who escaped most of the trouble she got into. She never retired the side in order, but stranded seven runners in five innings before giving way to Ashley Calendo in the sixth. Foothill had seven runners reach second base.

“[Pickard] threw the tough pitches when she had to,” Steve Calendo said. “The defense picked her up. But we couldn’t solve Fossatti.”

Champion, who was batting .563, and Caitlin Lowe, batting .531, had two hits apiece for Foothill. Fossatti had the only extra-base hit, a fifth-inning triple, among Foothill’s eight hits.

It was the last pool-play game in the tournament, which had its second day rained out last weekend. Foothill, which will play for the championship, and Hart will play their final games at a date to be determined.

Foothill plays Monday in the Best of the West tournament in Santa Maria.

Calendo saw a silver lining around Saturday’s loss.

“We don’t like losing, but we gained confidence,” he said. “They swept us badly [7-0, 7-1] last year in a doubleheader. This was a measuring stick. We know we can play with them, we know we’re a good team, and we’re looking forward to playing them again [in the Southern Section Division II playoffs].”