Esparza Helps San Pedro Make It Three in a Row

Sophomore Ashley Esparza can pitch and hit, and on Tuesday in the City Section softball championship game at UCLA, she showed she can run, too.

Esparza doubled and later scored on a wild pitch in the sixth inning and pitched a two-hitter to give top-seeded San Pedro a 1-0 victory and its third consecutive City title over second-seeded Carson, the Pirates’ Marine League rival.

It’s the seventh title in 11 years and 10th overall for San Pedro (26-2). Carson (24-6), in the finals for the fourth year in a row, is still looking for its first.

Carson’s Arlene Alvarado had the only two hits off Esparza (21-2), who led off the sixth with a double. She took third on a wild pitch and, with two out, Carson’s Danira Iolamo (14-4) pitched around Stephanie Spychaj instead of intentionally walking her. Iolamo threw a wild pitch on ball four to score Esparza.

The run held up--barely. Carson had runners at third base three times in the last four innings, with one out in the fourth, none out in the fifth and two out in the sixth.

Esparza got one of her six strikeouts, then a pop-up and grounder in the fifth, and a strikeout in the sixth.

The game was truly won in the fourth after three errors loaded the bases, but senior first baseman Marissa Gonzalez made a back-handed stab on a grounder headed toward right field. “Two runs, for sure,” Pirate Coach Tony Dobra said. “It’s [a play] we’ve got to make to be a good team.”

Reseda Cleveland (12-11) beat Marshall (16-8), 5-0, in the Invitational final.