Highland Hits Low Point, Falls to Quartz Hill

Somebody has to win the Golden League softball championship. League bylaws say so.

Now, if only a team would step forward and act like it actually wants it.

It certainly didn’t look like defending champion and favorite Highland High did Thursday, when the Bulldogs frittered away three leads and sole possession of first place in a 9-4 loss to Quartz Hill.

Traditional region power Quartz Hill (9-9, 3-1 in league play) isn’t exactly setting the world ablaze, even if there was a fire truck stationed behind the center-field fence throughout the game.

On Tuesday, the Rebels allowed three unearned runs, including one in the eighth inning, and lost to Palmdale, 4-3.

Highland (9-6, 3-1), Quartz Hill and Palmdale are tied for first and competing for the right to claim No. 2 status in the Antelope Valley, behind tiny Paraclete, a Division V school that is 5-0 against Golden League teams this season.

That’s cause for concern at Highland and Quartz Hill, programs traditionally among the region’s strongest.

“Highland might not make the playoffs for the first time in eight years, the way we’re playing,” Bulldog Coach Glenda Potts said.

Quartz Hill held a team meeting on Wednesday to straighten things out.

“I think we proved [Thursday] that we fixed a lot of things that needed to be fixed,” pitcher Kellie Cox said.

Cox (6-2), an All-Valley outfielder the last two seasons, struck out two and allowed 10 hits. She drove in two runs with three hits and is batting .617 (29 for 47).

Catcher Cassie Corless of Quartz Hill had three hits, including a solo home run in the fourth to tie it, 3-3, and a run-scoring single in the fifth that made it 4-4.

Shortstop Emily Barnes added two hits and two runs batted in.

“This is kind of what we thought we could do all year,” co-Coach Ben Meyer said. “And we did it against a good team. Everybody expected [Highland] to run away with it.”

Offense wasn’t a problem for the Bulldogs, who had 10 hits.

They got two hits each from Kelli Luce, Ashlie D’Errico, Breanna Munoz and Nichole and Natalie Rawson.

But Highland couldn’t hold leads of 2-0, 3-2 and 4-3.

Senior right-hander Nichole Rawson (7-6), who has committed to Marist, allowed 10 hits and nine walks--one to Cox with the bases loaded--and wasn’t helped by two errors behind her.

The last five batters in the Rebel lineup reached base 12 times in 20 plate appearances, but Quartz Hill didn’t take its first lead until the fifth, scoring five times with two out to overcome a 4-3 deficit.

The inning included a double by Jennifer Curtier, singles by Corless and Barnes and four walks.