TOHS now in the driver's seat
Lancer softball team beats Royal for the second time this year
By Stephen Dorman sdorman@theacorn.com

JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers WHEN THE DUST SETTLED- Tiffany Messerschmidt of Thousand Oaks slides in safe at third base during Tuesday's win.

With a 2-1 win at home over Royal High on Tuesday afternoon, the Thousand Oaks softball team has put itself in position to claim at least a share of the Marmonte League championship.

It was a pair of best friends- starting pitcher Brittany Reynolds and pinch hitter Jessica Mahn- who helped lead the Lancers (176, 92) to victory and into a firstplace tie with the Highlanders.

Reynolds threw a complete game, striking out six and allowing eight hits. When she did get in trouble, Reynolds either pitched her way out of the jam or the Lancer defense stepped up with a key play.

All told, Royal (17-4, 9-2) stranded 11 base runners during the game, including two in the first inning, three in the third, two in the fifth and two in the seventh.

Reynolds, who leads the league with a .642 ERA, said having opposing runners on base helped boost her concentration level.

"It makes me want to do even better," the junior right-hander said. "I know I can get out of it, and I know I have my team behind me.

"Marla (Mathews) is helping tremendously behind the plate. I trust her with everything, and I know she's going to call the pitches I need her to call."

Thousand Oaks has defeated Royal twice this season, and on both occasions the Highlanders have had a difficult time capitalizing on offense.

In the teams' first meeting in late March- a 7-0 shutout victory for TOHS- Royal stranded 13 base runners. The Highlanders' ineffectiveness swinging the bats against Thousand Oaks had Royal head coach Bill Dishon shaking his head following his team's latest loss.

"It just wasn't our day," Dishon said. "That's all there is to it- bottom line. It just wasn't our day."

Royal got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the first inning when leadoff hitter Tiffany Messerschmidt scored on Emily Martino's RBI triple.

Messerschmidt, the Marmonte League's second-leading hitter with a .493 average, bunted her way onto first base and then stole second.

Martino followed with a hardhit line drive that was misjudged by Royal's left fielder. The ball went over the outfielder's head and rolled to the wall as Messerschmidt headed home and Martino hustled to third.

It was the start of a big day for both Martino and Messerschmidt, as the two left-handers combined for six hits in six plate appearances.

Lancer head coach Gary Walin said his two lefties at the top of the order see the ball well when facing Royal pitcher Elizabeth Tsipouras.

"They definitely set the table for us," Walin said. "Although our three, four and five hitters struggled today, those are the girls that have been knocking (Martino and Messerschmidt) in when they've gotten on base."

Royal tied the game in the bottom of the fourth inning on an RBI single by Jen Mosier.

With two outs, Mosier laced a pitch to center field, scoring Bonnie Ward. Mosier was thrown out trying to advance to second base on the play, and rather than have runners at first and third and their No. 2 hitter coming to the plate, the Highlanders had only managed to score one run.

Thousand Oaks bounced right back in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Following two quick Lancer outs, Torey Best doubled to center field. Mahn pinch hit for Karli Adkins, delivering the go-ahead RBI with a bloop single that fell between Royal's second baseman and center fielder. Best scored on the play to put TOHS up 2-1.

"You've got to be confident," Mahn said. "It's hard coming off the bench in situations like that, but you still have to be confident. I had my whole team behind me, and I felt like I could do it."

Reynolds ran into trouble trying to close out the game in the top of the seventh.

Royal's Kris Lesovsky led off the inning with a double. After Reynolds induced a pop fly for the first out, the league's leading hitter, RHS third baseman Kacee Cox, stepped into the batter's box.

Thousand Oaks had already intentionally walked Cox twice, and with first base open it seemed like a no-brainer to issue another free pass. Walin and Reynolds, however, had something else in mind and decided to pitch to Cox with the game in the balance.

"She'd only taken one swing all day. She hit a changeup and kind of popped it up," Walin said. "So I asked my pitcher, I said, 'What do you want to do? We have first base open. Let's see if we can have her chase something. Maybe she'll be a little overanxious.'

"I'm sure (Cox) was very anxious to swing the bat."

Cox struck out and Royal was down to its final out. Following an intentional walk to Tsipouras, Reynolds got Ward to hit a groundball toward shortstop. The ball bounced up and hit Lesovsky as she was running to third. The umpire called interference on the Highlanders, and the game was over.

With three games remaining in league, Thousand Oaks now holds the tiebreaker over Royal for the Marmonte's top playoff seed by virtue of beating RHS twice. Reynolds said the Lancers will take things slow, pitch by pitch even, from this point forward.

"We're all in the mindset of one inning at a time," she said. "Each inning is like its own individual game for us now."

Royal and TOHS will play again on Saturday at 3 p.m. in the semifinals of the Thousand Oaks Tournament. The game will not impact the league standings.