Prep Softball : Fountain Valley Loses Pitchers’ Battle, 2-0

Gahr High School scored two runs in the 11th inning and spoiled the no-hit bid of freshman Rae Rice in the process as the Gladiators defeated Fountain Valley, 2-0, in the final of the Woodbridge softball tournament Wednesday at Harvard Park in Irvine.

Gahr (14-2), which did not have a baserunner until Rice walked Kelly Inouye in the seventh, started the 11th with Susan Dugas on second because of softball’s international tiebreaker rule.

Alicia Burns, hit a ground ball that went between the legs of Fountain Valley shortstop Kami Bigler for an error to allow Dugas to score the Gladiators’ first run.

After Rice (8-2) struck out Chandra Tune for the first out, Gahr pitcher DeDe Weiman beat out a grounder to Rice for Gahr’s first hit. Burns, who went to second on Bigler’s error, went to third on the hit.

After Rice struck out Terri Smith, Dugas’ sister Sally smashed a single to left to score Burns.

Weiman (14-1), who was named the tournament’s most valuable player, struck out 15 and allowed only Shannon Dolan’s sixth-inning single.

“I thought we were going to handle Rice better than we did, but we didn’t,” said John Klein, Gahr coach. “She was just throwing a lot of drop balls against us, and we were just hitting those things on the ground for outs. But in the end, our kids never gave up, and we showed the kind of character it takes to win games.”

Fountain Valley (12-3) had only four baserunners against Weiman before the tiebreaker innings. In the fourth, Trisha Staake got on when Gahr second baseman Gina DiCorpo had her foot off the bag after receiving a throw at first base for an error.

Dolan singled in the sixth, and Kelly Manders reached base in the seventh when DiCorpo mishandled her grounder for an error.

In the ninth, Dolan was safe when Tune dropped her popup.

“We have nothing to hang our heads down about tonight,” said Cary Baker, Fountain Valley coach. “Weiman did an outstanding job against us, and Rae carried herself very well for a freshman.”

In consolation games:

Irvine 4, Sunny Hills 1--Jennifer Brundage threw a five-hitter and drove in two runs to lead Irvine at Harvard Park. Brundage (6-5) allowed only one run and struck out four. She also broke a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the third inning with a two-run single. Ha Sherwood went 2 for 3 with two runs scored for Irvine (6-6). Amy Huett had an RBI single for Sunny Hills in the top of the third.

In the Charter Oak tournament:

Trabuco Hills 5, Flintridge 0--Pitcher Marta Bickert pitched her second no-hitter in two days, striking out 14, in a semifinal consolation game at Charter Oaks. Kim Rhoads had a double and a single for Trabuco Hills (5-6).