Tande Sparks Day of Upsets for Simi Valley

THOUSAND OAKS — Lori Tande eluded the tag of Cerritos High catcher Sara Winters, all right, but the Simi Valley junior did more than just slide by Saturday in the Thousand Oaks softball tournament at Los Cerritos Intermediate School.

Tande’s run in the bottom of the sixth inning gave the Pioneers a 1-0 semifinal victory over the Dons (21-4), ranked fourth in Southern Section Division II, and sent Simi Valley into next weekend’s title game.

But it was only the Pioneers’ second-biggest victory of the day.

Simi Valley (18-4) also upset perennial powerhouse Mater Dei, 2-1, in a quarterfinal. Top-ranked Mater Dei (21-4) is the defending Division I champion.

Simi Valley, ranked second in The Times’ regional poll, is ranked 10th in Division I. Marmonte League rival Thousand Oaks (18-3), which meets the Pioneers in the tournament final, is the division’s ninth-ranked team.

“We were excited to play them,” Tande said of Mater Dei. “We went in knowing we were going to give them a good game, and we did. I think people know we can play now.”

As she did against Cerritos, Tande figured prominently against Mater Dei.

Each team scored in the fourth for a 1-1 tie. Tande (9-3), the winning pitcher, shut down the Monarchs the rest of the way. In addition, her one-out sacrifice fly to right-center field drove in Cindy Gray from third base with the winning run in the bottom of the seventh.

Simi Valley loaded the bases in the seventh against sophomore Marissa Young (8-2), who came on in relief of Tia Bollinger to start the inning.

Young, the Division I player of the year last season, was making only her second appearance after sitting out six weeks because of an elbow injury. She walked Gray to open the seventh, gave up a single to Rebekah Todd and hit Alex Ingraham with a pitch to load the bases for Tande.

Tande finished with a five-hitter. She struck out two and walked one.

In other games at Los Cerritos Intermediate:

Thousand Oaks 2, Buena 1--Kristin Combe hit a two-run single in the first inning and Jennifer Sharron pitched a five-hitter for the Lancers (18-3) in a semifinal.

Buena (14-6-1) closed to within 2-1 with two out in the bottom of the sixth when Shannon Prentice tripled and scored on a single by Kris Herman. Kimi Stetler singled to put runners on first and second, but Sharron (15-3) struck out Amber Carr.

Sharron retired the side in order in the seventh.

Buena 3, Righetti 1--April Miller had a run-scoring single in the fifth inning to help the Bulldogs beat Righetti (24-2), ranked second in Southern Section Division II, in a quarterfinal.

Buena scored two runs in the third on two hits and an error.

Herman was hitless for Buena, ending a season-long, 19-game hitting streak.

Thousand Oaks 2, Cypress 0--Sharron pitched a perfect game, her second of the season, and struck out 14 for the Lancers in a quarterfinal.

Jennifer Richards had two hits for Thousand Oaks, which scored in the first and fifth innings.

Mater Dei 6, Newbury Park 2--Stacie Beshore and Candace Roberts each doubled for Newbury Park’s only hits in a fifth-place semifinal.

Roberts doubled in the Panthers’ runs in the fourth.

Cerritos 6, Newbury Park 3--Oli Keohohou and Tawni Yamauchi each had two hits and one RBI for the Panthers (15-7) in a quarterfinal loss to Cerritos (21-3).

Hart 1, Kennedy 0--Casey Morgan scored from third base on a one-out groundout by Christie Clericuzio for the Indians (18-7) in the eighth inning of a consolation game in an international tiebreaker.

Kennedy’s Sandra Durazo (19-4) pitched a one-hitter, striking out seven and walking none. The Golden Cougars (19-4) failed to score with the bases loaded in both the sixth and eighth innings.

Camarillo 1, Hart 0--Kim Kasper doubled in Jennifer Byrne, who reached on an error, for the second-ranked Scorpions (13-6) in a consolation game.

Kathryn Nevard (6-3) pitched a no-hitter, struck out 10 and walked none for Camarillo, which committed three errors.

Santa Maria St. Joseph 1, Kennedy 0--Durazo had a perfect game through six innings and a no-hitter through 8 1/3 innings, but the Golden Cougars gave up a run in the bottom of the ninth in an international tiebreaker.

Durazo finished with a one-hitter, allowing only an RBI single by Deedra Dutra with two out in the ninth.

Stacey Fields had Kennedy’s only hit.

Hoover 5, San Marcos 3--Carla Nanne had three hits and an RBI, Justine Takizawa had two hits and two RBIs, Evelyn Crowder had a two-run single and Cori Herbert (14-6) pitched a two-hitter, striking out 10 and walking two, for the Tornadoes in a consolation game.

Chaminade 3, Cabrillo 0--Maureen LeCocq (14-5) pitched her second shutout of the day for the Eagles (14-6), her 11th of the season, in a consolation game. She finished with a three-hitter.

In games at Thousand Oaks Community Park:

Moorpark 5, Hoover 2--Laura Stayer hit a two-run double to highlight a four-run first inning and help the Musketeers (13-7) upset Hoover (15-7) in a consolation game.

Louisville 1, Santa Barbara 0--Jemma Santos singled in Kelly Harris from third in the bottom of the eighth after Harris started the inning on second base in an international tie-breaker.

Harris took third on a sacrifice bunt by Christina Jordt. Stefanie Urman (11-8) pitched a one-hitter for Louisville (11-8).

Lakewood 4, Westlake 3--Erin Voeltz (8-9) pitched a four-hitter, struck out seven and walked none and Sarah Koppel hit a home run for the Warriors (9-10-1) in a consolation loss.