Thousand Oaks Title Stays at Home, 1-0

THOUSAND OAKS — What looked like just another tough Marmonte League softball game Saturday at Thousand Oaks Community Park was actually much more.

It was proof that Marmonte League teams will again have to be reckoned with come playoff time, regardless of the rankings.

Thousand Oaks High and Simi Valley, playing for the third time this season, met for the championship of the Thousand Oaks tournament after two of the state’s top-ranked teams played for fifth place.

Thousand Oaks ace Jennifer Sharron pitched a three-hitter to beat Simi Valley, 1-0, in front of about 275 fans.

“I think [the Marmonte League] is the toughest in Southern California,” said Sharron, a left-hander who is headed to Notre Dame on scholarship. “We have a league dense with talent this year and it shows.”

Two hours earlier, Righetti, ranked No. 2 in the state by Cal-Hi Sports, defeated the state’s No. 5 team, Mater Dei, 1-0.

Thousand Oaks (21-3) and Simi Valley (18-7), nowhere to be found in the state’s Top 10, both went undefeated in four tournament games to reach Saturday’s final. Simi Valley upset Mater Dei and Cerritos on May 3 to get into the final, but has lost three consecutive games since.

It was the second time in as many years that it has been an all-Marmonte League title game. Last year, Camarillo beat Westlake in the final.

The Lancers, who won their second Thousand Oaks tournament title in 10 years, scored in the first inning. Vanessa Hanson led off with an infield single, beating a throw from shortstop Tracie Hall. Neither Thousand Oaks Coach Gary Walin nor Simi Valley’s Suzanne Manlet thought Hanson was safe.

Hanson took second on a wild pitch and third on a sacrifice by Justine Rachlin. Older sister Erika Hanson, bound for top-ranked Arizona, ripped a hard chopper up the middle. The ball bounced off the knee of pitcher Lori Tande for a single and Vanessa Hanson scored easily.

Tande (10-5) pitched a five-hitter and allowed only five runners after the first.

Sharron (17-3), who struck out eight, hit one batter and was named the tournament’s most valuable player. She allowed only four runners, none past second base.

Erika Hanson had two hits for the Lancers, who have beaten Simi Valley twice this season.

In other tournament games:

Cerritos 4, Buena 2--The Bulldogs fell in the third-place game.

Camarillo 11, Chaminade 0--Cindy Ball pitched a one-hitter and hit a three-run home run and a two-run triple for the Scorpions (17-6) in the ninth-place game.

The game was called after five innings because of the 10-run rule.

Ball struck out seven and walked one for Camarillo, ranked second in the region by The Times.

Righetti 1, Mater Dei 0--Jocelyn Forest, a junior right-hander, pitched a one-hitter and struck out 14 to help Righetti (27-2) beat Mater Dei (23-5).

Forest (27-2), who broke Heather Compton’s school record for most victories in a season, retired 14 straight batters at one point.