OCHS softball earns trip
to CIF finals again

Once again–for the third consecutive year of Oaks Christian High’s existence–the Lions softball team has won the semifinal round of the California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section playoffs. While in 2001 and 2002 the Westlake Village school was in Division VI, this year it’s fighting it out in a stronger Division IV. Tuesday, the Lions defeated Dos Pueblos, 1-0.

Oaks Christian (31-2) got to Tuesday’s semifinals last Thursday at Van Nuys’ Sherman Oaks Park when the Lions, No. 1, Frontier League, got a 2-1 win over the Notre Dame High Lady Knights of Sherman Oaks (15-9), Mission League, No. 1, in the quarterfinal game.

It was the Lions 24th consecutive win, against Notre Dame, as senior Ashlee Freeman, 21-1, earned her 17th consecutive win this season while striking out 10 Lady Knights and yielding four hits, sophomore shortstop Ashlee Veilleux was 2 for 3 including a double, sophomore designated hitter Kaslin Tucker tripled and junior left fielder Tiffany Day drove in both runs with a double in the top of the sixth inning.

"The tone started from pitch one and ended on the last pitch of the game," said head coach Pete Ackerman. "It was a very tense ballgame–fun for the spectators, (but) not for the girls and the coaches."

With the win, Oaks Christian played Tuesday in Goleta against the Dos Pueblos High Chargers, No. 2, Channel Island League.

As he looked ahead to the semifinal game before knowing if the Lions opponent would be Dos Pueblos or the La Canada High Spartans, Rio Hondo League, No. 1, Ackerman said he did not have a preference.

"We show up and play our ballgame," he said. "We create our own destiny and that’s what it’s all about–and it’s been that way for all those years. We’ve got some outstanding seniors leading us and upper classmen and thankfully not too many of them."

In the win over Notre Dame, Veilleux got the sixth inning started with a single to right field, her second single in three at-bats.

"I couldn’t be happier to get my leadoff hitter (Veilleux) to lead off an inning. That’s what was really good about it. Ashlee’s come through big time in the playoffs every year she’s played."

As the Lions have moved on in the playoffs, the opponents’ ability to find ways to win has increased, meaning that Oaks Christian has had to be cautious of this fact.

Reviewing the Notre Dame game, Ackerman said that he hoped his team learned not to throw the ball down to second base in a pickoff attempt when the count was three balls, two strikes.

"That was just the momentum of the game and how it was going in the intensity," he said of a failed pickoff attempt.

"You can’t fault an error of commission; it’s the omission faults that you worry about. If they are rested and they do their things, I don’t think any kid has ever been reprimanded for striking out or throwing a ball.

"That’s where we go up there, we swing the bat and try to do the very best we can."

Another area that Ackerman said he hoped his team would take advantage of is successfully bunting, and not trying to hit a high pitch that could result in a pop-up ball being caught by the catcher.

"The kids realize that the further you go in this thing, the harder the pitchers and catchers and teams are," he said.

"They’re not going to give you a low pitch to put down on the ground. The girls are a little nervous and try to do things. They did well and we’re looking forward to playing Tuesday."

A large part of the Lions’ success, the coach said, has been the seniors–catcher Shannon Van Vorst, pitcher Sara Radabaugh and Freeman–and junior left fielder Tiffany Day.

"They do a great job of getting the kids prepared," Ackerman said. "We’ve been very blessed to have the kids focus on their passion of the game and their character.

The Lions won Tuesday in the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Southern Section Division IV semifinals, and for the third straight year—all three years of the school’s existence—the Lions will now play in the championship game.

Amber Peterson, a sophomore third baseman, led off the top of the fourth inning Tuesday by hitting a home run deep over the left-center field fence at Dos Pueblos High School, providing the only run of the game.

Ashlee Freeman, a right-hand pitcher, threw the complete-game shutout, striking out 11 including the first batter she faced in the bottom of the first inning and the last batter of the game in the bottom of the seventh.

Dos Pueblos got four hits in the game, including two in the bottom of the fifth inning when it