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Here is the City Section softball schedule for locals:
CHAMPIONSHIP
No. 1 Carson vs. No. 2 El Camino Real, 4:30 p.m. on May 30 at UCLA
INVITATIONAL SEMIFINALS
No. 11 Maywood at No. 7 Eagle Rock, 3 p.m. Thursday
Here are the local matchups Thursday in the Southern Section softball quarterfinals:
DIV. II
No. 2 Camarillo at Valley View
DIV. III
No. 4 Bishop Amat vs. Burbank at McCambridge Park
DIV. V
No. 1 La Canada at Mary Star of the Sea
DIV. VI
Jurupa Valley at No. 4 Paraclete
DIV. VII
No. 2 Bell-Jeff vs. Bloomington Christian at Gross Park
Because of the late withdrawals of Chaminade and Downey from the Thousand Oaks tournament after Southern Section officials said they could be in danger of playing too many games after both playing seven over three days at the recent Las Vegas Spring Jamboree, here is the revised schedule for Saturday:
Camarillo vs. Granada Hills, 8 a.m.
Kennedy vs. Burbank, 8 a.m.
Winners and losers play at 10 a.m.
Chatsworth at Thousand Oaks, 9 a.m.
Chatsworth vs. Oak Park, 11 a.m.
Oak Park at Thousand Oaks, 1 p.m.
Hart vs. St. Joseph, noon
Oxnard vs. Dos Pueblos, noon
Winners play at 3 p.m., losers play at 2 p.m.
La Canada vs. Rio Mesa, 2 p.m.
La Canada vs. La Reina, 4 p.m.
Rio Mesa vs. La Reina, 6 p.m.
Thousand Oaks softball coach Gary Walin has put together another impressive 16-team field for this year's tournament, scheduled for April 21 and 28. The championship game is scheduled for 6 p.m. on April 28.
La Canada defeated Hart 6-4 in last year's final and the teams are in the same half of the bracket this season and could meet in the April 28 semifinals. La Canada defeated Hart again 6-4 in pool play Saturday at the Woodbridge tournament in Irvine.
First-round games, April 21
Camarillo vs. Granada Hills, 8 a.m.
Burbank vs. Kennedy, 8 a.m.
Chaminade vs. Thousand Oaks, 9 a.m.
Oak Park vs. Chatsworth, 9 a.m.
Hart vs. St. Joseph, noon
Dos Pueblos vs. Oxnard, noon
La Reina vs. Downey, 4 p.m.
La Canada vs. Rio Mesa, 4 p.m.
With Foothill League play starting Tuesday and several leagues resuming as well following spring breaks, several local pitchers have established themselves among the elite in Southern California when it comes to strikeouts.
Here's a look at some of the area's most impressive power pitchers thus far:
Carly Mortensen, Valencia, Sr. -- Second among reported totals with 187 strikeouts in 129 innings, including season-high 16 on March 20 against Camarillo; Has a 14-5 record with a 1.41 ERA.
Rachel Garcia, Highland, Fr. -- Eighth among reported totals with 145 strikeouts in 79 innings, including season-high 15 against El Camino Real, St. Bonaventure and Knight; Produced a 9-5 record with a 0.97 ERA
Lauren Cox, La Canada, Sr. -- Ninth among reported totals with 143 strikeouts in 78 innings, including season-high 23 in 14 innings on March 27 against Monrovia; Boasts a 9-1 record with a 0.99 ERA
Lauren Soles, Simi Valley, Sr. -- 12th among reported totals with 130 strikeouts in 99 innings, including season-high 12 on March 15 against Calabasas; Carries a 12-3 record with a 0.63 ERA
Nancy Bowling, Royal, Sr. -- 13th among reported totals with 127 strikeouts in 76 innings, including season-high 16 on April 5 against Nipomo; Features a 12-1 record with a 0.18 ERA
Five local teams will compete Saturday at the Spring Jamboree Classic in Las Vegas, including Bell-Jeff, Chaminade and Moorpark alive in the championship quarterfinals.
8 a.m. -- Moorpark vs. Chaminade
8 a.m. -- Bell-Jeff vs. Winslow (Ariz.)
10 a.m. -- El Camino Real vs. Damonte Ranch (Nev.)
10 a.m. -- San Fernando vs. Cheyenne (Nev.)
Championship semifinals at noon and final at 4 p.m.
El Camino Real would play again at 2 p.m. for ninth place with a victory
Four area teams will compete Saturday in the Michelle Carew/Faster to First Classic:
9 a.m. -- Agoura vs. St. Francis (Sacramento) at Peralta Park, Anaheim
11 a.m. -- Simi Valley vs. Santa Margarita at Esperanza High, Anaheim
1 p.m. -- Oaks Christian vs. Riverside Poly at Anaheim Canyon High
3 p.m. -- Valencia vs. Martin Luther King at Peralta Park, Anaheim
Carly Mortensen remains on a roll for the Valencia softball team, pitching a three-hitter with eight strikeouts to help the Vikings post a 5-0 second-round victory Friday over Foothill at the Michelle Carew/Faster to First Classic at Peralta Park in Anaheim.
Mortensen (12-3), a Pacific signee, pitched a one-hitter with nine strikeouts in five innings Thursday in a 9-0 victory over Murrieta Valley.
Wendy Cardinali homered, Missy Fundora doubled, Sarah Solano drove in a two runs and Kristina Brackpool added a hit for Valencia (12-4), which faces Pacifica of Garden Grove or Agoura at 5:15 p.m. Friday in the quarterfinals.
The winner plays tournament host Anaheim Canyon in the semifinals at 1 p.m. Saturday at Peralta Park.
Desiring to see more playing time at catcher, Maddy Jelenicki has left Valencia and will attend Saugus, Valencia softball coach Donna Lee confirmed Monday.
Jelenicki, who split time at catcher with Penn State-bound Karlie Habitz along with playing second base during her freshman season, will look to gain immediate eligibility to compete for the reigning Foothill League champion Centurions instead of having to sit out a year of varsity competition or playing at the junior varsity level.
Jelenicki verbally committed to UCLA before she played her first game at Valencia. She hit .500 with eight home runs, 23 runs and 32 RBIs for the Vikings, who reached the Southern Section Div. I quarterfinals.
All was not lost for the Antelope Valley 18-under softball all-star team Thursday night in its bid to reach an eighth consecutive Big League World Series in Kalamazoo, Mich.
But the District 51 all-stars did have their Western Regionals winning streak snapped at 23 following a 3-2 setback to Westchester Del Rey (6-0) at Monte Vista Little League Field in Lancaster.
Antelope Valley (2-1) hadn't suffered a regional loss since a 10-5 defeat against Mesa, Ariz., in the opening game of the 2007 best-of-three championship series.
Quartz Hill's Jessica Perez hit the first home run of the series, but Westchester Del Rey delivered a double in the bottom of the seventh to drive in the winning run.
Bishop's Kellie Tiner suffered the hard-luck loss for Antelope Valley, which received clutch defensive plays from Lancaster graduate Julie Nixon (now at College of the Canyons), Rosamond's Amanda Conroy and Quartz Hill's Erica Serfoss.
Prior to the game, Antelope Valley and Westchester Del Rey had already qualified for the championship series Saturday, with games scheduled for 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.
Jurupa American is the last 18-under team to win a Big League Western Regional title before Antelope Valley's impressive run, defeating the host team 2-1 in the 2003 if-necessary final.




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