Valencia Finally Gets Best of Hart, 1-0

It was a base hit 13 seasons in the making, a victory hungrily awaited for five seasons.

Jessica Robinson delivered both, setting off a celebration and helping Valencia High climb to the top of the Foothill League softball standings for the first time in its seven-year existence.

Robinson’s sixth-inning, bases-loaded single to center field gave the Vikings a 1-0 victory over nationally ranked Hart on Tuesday before about 250 at Newhall Park.

The victory was the first for Valencia (16-2, 5-0 in league play) over Hart (15-3, 4-1) since 1996 and gives the Vikings sole possession of first place for the first time.

“I’m pumped,” said Coach Donna Lee, whose team broke an eight-game losing streak against the Indians, ranked No. 1 in the region by The Times and No. 4 in one national poll. “For years and years, we’ve worked so hard and it’s all because of this, to beat Hart at Hart.”

Tori Rocco (12-2) pitched brilliantly, matching Pittsburgh-bound Casey Pickard (8-2) of Hart and limiting a team with eight .300 batters to three singles.

Rocco struck out five, including Lindsay Kontra with two out and two runners in the sixth, and walked one while allowing only three balls out of the infield--two fly-ball outs and a ground single by Sara Dean.

The rest was up to Robinson, a senior first baseman who will give up softball when she enrolls at Cal State Sacramento next fall.

When Robinson was 5, she joined a softball team for the first time, at the behest of Pickard and her family.

Longtime friends and teammates, Robinson and Pickard played together on a 10-and-under team that went 36-0 and won a national championship in 1993.

As opponents, Robinson has struggled against Pickard, including a fourth-inning showdown Tuesday when Valencia had runners on second and third with one out. Robinson popped out to shallow center.

Two walks, a fielder’s choice and an infield single by Danyale Peterson set the stage for Robinson with one out in the sixth.

“[Pickard] had been throwing me a lot [outside] all day,” said Robinson, a .288 hitter who punched an outside fastball up the middle to score Jaisa Creps.

Lauren Watson, who was on second, was thrown out at the plate.

For Robinson, the key was moving on from past failures.

“This week, we worked on our mental stuff,” she said. “We worked on putting previous at-bats behind us. I just focused and wiped everything else out.”

Including five years of frustration against the three-time defending league champions.

Valencia, ranked No. 3 in the region and No. 2 in Southern Section Division I, can focus on its first league title.

“They wanted the game much more than we did,” Hart Coach Cathy Giordano said. “They came here to beat Hart and they did.”