PREP SOFTBALL : Villa Park Starts Fast for Upset

Heather Culver is not the prototypal leadoff hitter--she was batting cleanup two weeks ago--but she found she was very comfortable in the No. 1 spot once she made the change.

Monday, she made the best team in the county very un comfortable.

Culver hit the second pitch of the game out of the ballpark, and 10th-ranked Villa Park stunned No. 1 Foothill, 1-0, in a Century League game at Hillview School.

Villa Park’s victory creates a two-way tie for first place between the Spartans (14-7, 3-1 in league) and Foothill (17-2, 3-1).

Foothill, ranked No. 2 in the state, suffered its only previous loss to Fresno Bullard--the state’s top team.

It’s the second time in two years that Culver, a sophomore, has beaten the Knights, who reached the Southern Section Division I final last year; her RBI single in the bottom of the 11th defeated Foothill last season.

This time, Culver provided the winning margin right away.

After taking a pitch in the dirt, Culver pounced on a flat curveball from Marie Gieron (12-2) and pulled it 20 feet beyond the 200-foot fence in left field--the first homer of its kind at Foothill’s field.

“Sometimes I feel I can do better in leadoff, but I just went up there trying to make contact,” Culver said. “Right now I’m wanting to hit the first strike I get. This one was letter high over the inner half of the plate.”

And it tied last year’s game-winning hit for the most exciting moment in her softball career.

An out later, Brandee McArthur drilled a double to the right-center field alley, but only one batter got on base after that--on an error--and Gieron faced only 20 batters.

McArthur (6-3)--statistically, the county’s most unhittable pitcher (13 hits in 61 innings)--pitched a one-hitter and struck out nine. Michelle Churnock, the center of Foothill’s offense, singled to left in the fourth, but it came with two outs, and she was caught stealing to end the inning.

Foothill left four runners on base in the final four innings--one on first, two on second, one on third, all with one out. But each time, McArthur induced a pop-up and strikeout, except in the seventh, when she struck out two batters with two runners on.

“In tough situations, (McArthur) got tougher,” Foothill Coach Joe Gonzalez said.

But the victory won’t mean much unless Villa Park can make it stand up in the league race

“If we didn’t win today, the rest of the season would have been easy--we would have (been two games behind and) only had to play to make the playoffs,” Coach Dave Shelton said. “But this can’t be the highlight of the season; if we lose to them next time, this was just another important game.”

In another Century League game:

Orange 4, Santa Ana Valley 1--Dara Marzolo’s two-run triple in the sixth gave Orange (8-8, 2-2) the victory. Lindsay Huebner added two hits for the Panthers.

In the Freeway League:

Fullerton 3, La Habra 0--Angie Fancuberta (10-7) pitched a four-hitter for Fullerton (13-7, 3-1).

In the Orange League:

Valencia 3, Western 0--Carrie Ritchey hit a two-run homer and a triple as Valencia (8-11, 2-2) scored three first-inning runs for the victory. On the mound, Aubrey Zamora allowed only two hits, striking out seven.