Thousand Oaks Catches Break

Nicole Angelo of Thousand Oaks High regretted the pitch the moment she threw it.

But when she saw center fielder Andi Keesling stick her glove into the air to flag down the drive that nearly doomed the Lancers, she was elated.

With runners on first and second with two out in the eighth inning of a scoreless game, Daqueta Johnson of Don Lugo ripped a riseball into left-center field.

Keesling tracked the ball down deep in the power alley, making a running back-handed catch to preserve the scoreless game.

The catch gave the Lancers a second opportunity that they did not squander.

Michelle Spencer’s suicide squeeze in the bottom of the inning scored Sheridan Fowler to give the Lancers a 1-0 victory in a Southern Section Division II quarterfinal game Thursday at Thousand Oaks Community Center.

“Andi saved my butt,” said Angelo (19-4), who pitched a seven-hitter and struck out seven. “She definitely did.”

Angelo, who retired 11 of 12 batters entering the eighth inning, allowed two singles in the eighth. She challenged Johnson with two riseballs. The second one nearly defeated the Lancers, who advanced to the semifinals for the fourth time in five years.

“I thought it was gone,” said Spencer, the Thousand Oaks shortstop. “I thought it was a three-run home run.”

Instead, it turned into jubilation for the Lancers (24-5) and agony for Don Lugo (18-8).

“I’m sure we out-hit them,” Coach Ray Sheffield of Don Lugo said. “I’m sure we put the ball in play more then they did. [Thursday] the luck wasn’t on our side.”

But Keesling was on Thousand Oaks’ side. Coach Gary Walin says the senior, who will attend the University of San Diego on a soccer scholarship, is one of the fastest players the program has produced.

Her first step is explosive, the coach said, and it was apparent Keesling got an outstanding jump on Johnson’s drive.

“For some reason, I knew the ball was coming to me,” Keesling said. “I was so shocked that I caught it.”

So were the Lancers.

“I was so relieved,” Spencer said. “Last year, we lost in the semifinals on a ball hit in the exact same position.”

Spencer’s squeeze play came on the first pitch from Melissa Trout (14-7).

Fowler led off the inning with a double and advanced to third base on Keesling’s bunt single, her third infield hit of the game.