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Sports

SOFTBALL: Westmont Tops Leigh in Mt. Hamilton Opener

League tilt goes to the home team behind strong showing from Mussadi.

Westmont 4, Leigh 0

The Star: Westmont High junior pitcher Lujane Mussadi pitched a complete game shutout, helping her team defeat Leigh High 4-0 in the Mt. Hamilton League opener for both teams Tuesday afternoon at Westmont High.

Mussadi struck out the first batter she faced—the first of eight strikeouts on the day for the Warriors ace—before yielding back-to-back hits. Leigh sophomore Jenn Amaral roped a double into the left field corner followed up by a Lauryn Saunders knock. The single rolled into shallow right field, but an aggressive move on the base paths turned out to cost the visitors. Right fielder Sarah Ossello gunned down the first Leigh runner at the plate, then Saunders was thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a triple.

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The stellar defensive play got Mussadi out of trouble--a position she rarely found herself the rest of the way--during the gloomy afternoon tilt that was graced with scatters showers throughout the ball game.  

The Turning Point: While Leigh (5-3-1, 0-1 Mt. Hamilton) couldn’t push a run or two across in the top half of the first, Westmont’s (7-2, 1-0 Mt. Hamilton) offense came out swinging early. After a Melissa Ortiz walk and a hit batsman, freshman Allie Mohn rocked a one-out RBI single into left field to get the home team on the board. A passed ball and an RBI double off the bat of Mussadi allowed two more runs to touch home. The wild opening frame ended with Westmont throwing two Leigh runners out on the bath paths and three runs coming on the board for the hosts in the bottom half of the first inning.

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The Quotes: “I think once I settled down everything started to click in,” Westmont starting pitcher Lujane Mussadi said after the win. “I was able to get good movement on my pitches.”

 Leigh head coach Clovis Mirassou was disappointed with the end result, but knows there’s a lot of games left on the docket in the 2011 campaign.

 “In the very first inning, I tried to push the issue on the base paths,” Mirassou said. “They made a great throw to the plate. I think if we were able to get a run or two early, things could have turned out a little different for us. It seems like every season we seem to split against them (Westmont). They are always very well coached.”

 The Longhorns head man expects his group to be a factor in the Mt. Hamilton league title race.

 “I think we can definitely finish in the top four in league,” Mirassou said. “The goal is to make CCS. That’s the goal every year.”

For Westmont, the win gives them an early mark in the win column in the league title race.

 “That was very encouraging for us, because we haven’t been scoring runs early in the game,” Westmont head coach Jon Hennig said about his teams quick start. “We start three freshmen. One of them got a big hit for us in the first inning. I think we’ll be in the mix for the league title.”

 What's Next? Westmont will play at Piedmont Hills High, while Leigh will host league rival Pioneer High. Both games are slated to start at 3:30 pm Thursday afternoon.

Bottom Line: Westmont added a fourth and final run in the fifth inning off a ground ball out to second that scored Mussadi. Leigh threatened again in the sixth inning, putting runners on second and third with only one away. However, the runs never came as the Westmont hurler buckled down once more and recorded back-to-back strikeouts to quell the rally.

—————————

Westmont  4, Leigh 0

W 3 0 0 0 1 0 0- 4 8 1

L 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 – 0 6 2

WP: Mussadi . LP: Hogan

Records: Westmont 7-2, 1-0 Mt. Hamilton. Leigh 5-3-1, 0-1 Mt. Hamilton.

 

 

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