Aztecs Lose in 12th Inning

For 11 2/3 innings on Saturday, Esperanza and Rancho Cucamonga played a nearly perfect game.

And then, a pop fly away from going into the 13th inning, the end came quickly, unexpectedly.

The ball trickled out of the glove of Esperanza first baseman Danielle Ackland, and Rancho Cucamonga had a 1-0 victory in the Southern Section Division I championship game at Barber Park in Irvine.

It was the first title game appearance for both teams, and both played like champions.

But it was Rancho Cucamonga (23-7) that forced Esperanza (24-6-1) to make the critical, pressure-packed play--and won.

Serena Fierro, who robbed Esperanza’s Ashley Johnson of a home run in the eighth inning with a catch at the center-field fence, led off the 12th inning with a bunt single. Dominique Borba popped out, and Janel Jones slapped a single to right field. Fierro took third, and Jones took second on the throw into the infield.

Laurette Ortiz hit a line drive at Esperanza pitcher Kristen Dedmon, who almost doubled Fierro off third base.

Then came Amelia Runyan’s pop-up to the right of Ackland, and as she and second baseman Diana Eberlein converged on it, the ball fell out of Ackland’s glove.

“I was thinking we were going another inning,” said Rancho Cucamonga pitcher Valerie Sevilla (14-2), who finished the season without allowing an earned run. “I was shocked. As soon as I saw it drop, I said, ‘Amelia, run, run, run!’ ”

It is the first girls’ section title in any sport for Rancho Cucamonga.

“Nobody wants to be co-champs, but no one wants to be on the losing end of it, either,”’ said Mike Lindensmith, the Rancho Cucamonga coach. The game was 15 minutes from being called a tie because it was approaching the three-hour time limit.

Esperanza had not made a playoff appearance since 1988, and had not allowed a run in its previous eight games behind Dedmon (19-5).

But Rancho Cucamonga would not have been in position to win if it had not been for Fierro’s brilliant catch.

“It’s the biggest defensive play I’ve seen,” said Lindensmith, who was an assistant for six years and the head coach the last two. “When she caught it, I thought, ‘This is our night,’ we’re in good shape and we’ll keep working it until we can make something happen.

“In a game like this, it’s going to be decided by whoever makes the first mistake. Fortunately for us, it wasn’t us.”

It made a winner of Sevilla, who struck out 15 and allowed only four hits.

Dedmon, a sophomore, was nearly as good. She allowed six hits and struck out 11.

She thought Runyan’s pop-up was a sure out. But when it wasn’t, “I thought, ‘OK, we’re going to get the out at first,’ ” Dedmon said. “It didn’t work out that way.

“Danielle was very upset, but I think she’s going to be OK, she’s going to bounce back, she’s that kind of player.”

Esperanza got as far as it did because of its defense, and Ackland’s drop was out of character. “She’s never really done that,” Dedmon said. “It was probably the lights or something. Maybe she blinked. These things happen.

“It’s very tough [to lose]. We were kind of underdogs. No one thought we would get this far.”