Sensational sophomore: Stockdale softball ace no-hits Clovis West
| Friday, May 22 2009 12:45 PM
Last Updated Friday, May 22 2009 12:45 PM
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Division I
No. 2 Stockdale 1, No. 7 Clovis West 0
No. 3 Fresno-Central 2, No. 6 Liberty 1
No. 4 Clovis-Buchanan 4, No. 5 Centennial 3
Division II
No. 4 Visalia-El Diamante 7, No. 5 Frontier 5
Division III
No. 9 Clovis North 5, No. 1 Golden Valley 0
No. 2 Ridgeview 7, No. 7 Porterville 0
No. 6 Hanford 5, No. 3 Tehachapi 1
Division IV
No. 8 Chowchilla 2, No. 1 Wasco 1
Division V
No. 1 Riverdale 3, No. 8 Bak. Christian 0
Division VI
No. 1 Laton 10, No. 2 McFarland 9
Images:
Casey Christie / The Californian Stockdale's ace pitcher, Justine Vela pitches a no-hitter during Thursday's game against Clovis West at Stockdale in the Division I quarterfinals. Stockdale won the game 1-0 in 7 innings.
Casey Christie / The Californian Stockdale's Colleen Reed slides safely into second against Clovis West player Amber Mills, Thursday, at Stockdale during theDivision I quarterfinals. Reed went on to score the only run of the game beating Clovis West 1-0 with a no-hitter by Stockdale pitcher Justine Vela.
Casey Christie / The Californian Stockdale's coach Amanda Hockett, congratulates Colleen Reed after sliding safely into homeplate making the only score of the day against Clovis West Thursday, during the softball Division I quarterfinals.
Casey Christie / The Californian Stockdale Mustangs have some fun after beating Clovis West 1-0, Thursday at home in Bakersfield during the Division I quarterfinals in softball.
Stockdale has no qualms about putting its Central Section softball playoff hopes on the shoulders of a slender sophomore.
And, for Justine Vela and the Mustangs, it's so far, so very good -- almost perfect, in fact.
Vela threw a no-hitter against No. 7-seeded Clovis West on Thursday at Stockdale, helping the No. 2 Mustangs to a 1-0 victory and a berth in the Division I semifinals Tuesday against No. 3 Fresno-Central, a 2-1 quarterfinal winner against Liberty.
Only a hit batter in the second inning and a throwing error in the sixth kept Vela from being perfect. She struck out 11 in her first playoff start.
"I was nervous, but I tried to cover it up and not let it show," Vela said. "I tried to throw the ball the same as any other game."
Vela missed her freshman year because of a broken finger, but she has recovered nicely. The numbers told the story in many ways against Clovis West -- eight strikeouts in the first three innings, only two balls left the infield, no runners got past second base.
"She had an awesome season," Stockdale coach Amanda Hockett said. "She's doing amazing for us. She's pasting the corners. She's got in, out, up and down working for her."
This was a reversal of an early-season 3-0 win for Clovis West.
"We've come a long ways since then," Vela said. "We've come together as a team."
On offense, Stockdale (20-7-1) struggled against another young pitcher, Clovis West freshman Sydney White. The Mustangs stranded runners on second and third in the first, two more runners in the second and also lined into double plays in the fifth and sixth.
They finally scratched across the winning run in the bottom of the fifth when Colleen Reed, who had two of the Mustangs' four hits, reached on a bunt single. Ilyssa Espiritu bunted Reed to third, and she came home on Jazmine Irvin's groundout.
"We had some poor baserunning on the line drives," Hockett said. "But we like to be as aggressive as we can ... We're not a high-scoring team, so we need to get every little run we can."
The one run was enough for Vela, who stymied Clovis West (17-15-1) with her curveball and riseball early and then went to the screwball late.
"We have good hitters on our team," Clovis West coach Peggy Rigby said. "You keep our top five hitters hitless, that means she did a really good job."
And the Mustangs hope this is just the first of what could be many great performances for the super soph.
"I'm going to ride her all the way," Hockett said. "She's got us this far, and she's going to show us how far she's going to take us."
