SOFTBALL: Prospect Season Ends in CCS Semifinals

A pitchers dual through nearly six innings turned ugly after a rally-starting blooper fell just inside the third base foul line, igniting a big offensive flurry by the defending Central Coast Section Division III champions.

The Prospect High softball team hung close to No. 3 seed Valley Christian, trailing by only one going into the bottom half of the sixth.

After the aforementioned bloop shot that resulted in a lead-off double, Valley Christian would score seven runs off six hits in the frame to open up the 2011 Central Coast Section Division II Softball Semifinal game held Thursday afternoon at PAL field in San Jose. 

Valley Christian eventually won the game 8-0, advancing to Saturday’s D-II finals where they will face off against league rival Archbishop Mitty Prep-San Jose.

Prospect junior starter Amanda Llerena matched Valley Christian ace Janell Laront pitch-for-pitch for the majority of the contest, with both starters racking up monster strikeout totals when all was said and done.

Laront finished the game with 11 strikeouts, just one shy of Llerena’s 12 K’s.

Valley won the Division III CCS crown last season in extra innings behind the brilliance of Laront and the dangerous speed of lead-off hitter Tyler Walker.

Laront struck out the side in the third then watched Walker break up the scoreless tie in the bottom half of the inning with a booming blast to left.

Walker lined a deep shot over the head off the Prospect left fielder then flew around the bases for the inside-the-park home run.

Prospect (17-5), the No. 4 seed in the Division II draw, defeated No. 2 seed Westmont 1-0 on Saturday.

“Last game we got the clutch hit we needed to win the game, today we didn’t,” Prospect head coach Jason Potmesil said after the semifinal defeat. “Amanda was still on her game today. She missed some locations late in the game and they kept putting the ball in play on us. Give them (Valley Christian) credit. They can hit.”

After back-to-back outs to open the sixth, Prospect junior Courtney Igou roped a single to center field. Hayley Schmidt followed with a walk to put two runners aboard with cleanup hitter Llerena headed to the dish.

“We got the situation that we wanted,” Potmesil said. “It just didn’t work out for us.”

Laront tied up the Panthers best hitter and got out of trouble. In the next frame, the Warriors added seven runs to their lead.

“We have a good core of players coming back,” Potmesil said about Prospect’s outlook towards next season. “When you have your ace pitcher coming back and your shortstop, that’s already a good start. I like our chances. I expect us to get back here again.”

 ..........................................................................................................................

Valley Christian 8, Prospect 0

V- 0 0 1 0 0 7 x- 8 8 0

P-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 – 0 2 4

WP: Laront. LP: Llerena