BLUMFIELD DOES IT ALL : EL CAMINO REAL 2, GRANADA HILLS 1.Byline: Vincent Bonsignore Daily News Staff Writer Cara Blumfield didn't transfer to El Camino Real High School El Camino Real High School (also known locally as "ECR" and by some more recently as "ELCO") is a public secondary school located in the Woodland Hills district of the San Fernando Valley region of the city of Los Angeles, California. from Calabasas just to play softball softball, variant of baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Invented (1888) in Chicago as an indoor game, it was at various times called indoor baseball, mush ball, playground ball, kitten ball, and, because it was also played by women, ladies' . But when the sophomore shortstop joined the Conquistadores this year, she realized the opportunity to perform in big games was there. Tuesday, Blumfield took advantage of such a chance. In a City Section 4-A semifinal game against Granada Hills, she reached base four times, scored two runs, hit a home run, finished a triple shy of hitting for the cycle In baseball, a player hits for the cycle when he hits a single, a double, a triple and a home run in the same game, though not necessarily in that order. Collecting the hits in that order is known as a natural cycle. and superbly handled nine defensive chances to lead El Camino Real El Camino Real (Spanish for The Royal Road or The King's Highway) was the name of a series of pre-automobile highways linking the various New World colonies of Spain:
The Conquistadores (18-3) play Kennedy in the championship game at 5 p.m. on Tuesday at UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX . El Camino Real upset the Cougars 6-0 last year in the 4-A final. Kennedy won the sole matchup this year, 1-0, in eight innings. ``I am so happy,'' Blumfield said. ``To play for the championship is exciting.'' The Conquistadores survived a seventh-inning rally by the Highlanders (12-8) to advance. On the final play of the game, Granada Hills pinch-runner Angelica Vega was thrown out at third base for the final out moments after Pauline Bolyard scored on Amy Matthews' infield single. The previous six innings belonged to Blumfield, although catcher Ramona Shelburne Ramona Shelburne is an American sports journalist currently writing for the Los Angeles Daily News. Shelburne was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. She attended El Camino Real High School in Woodland Hills, California where she was a class valedictorian. and pitcher Ashley Redlin were also effective. Blumfield reached base on an error in the first inning and scored on Shelburne's two-out double to give the Conquistadores a 1-0 lead. She led off the third inning with her first home run of the year to make the score 2-0. She added a single in the fifth and a double in the seventh. More important, she played flawlessly in the field. At one point she made six straight outs on ground balls. ``She's been doing that all year,'' El Camino Real coach Neils Ludlow said. ``When the ball is hit to her side I don't worry.'' Blumfield takes pride in her defense, but her offense has been a key as well. As the leadoff hitter In baseball, a leadoff hitter is a batter who bats first in the lineup. Strategy Leadoff hitters must possess certain traits to be successful: they must reach base at a proficient rate and be able to steal bases. , it's her job to ignite the Conquistadores' offense. She had no problem doing that Tuesday. ``It's probably the best I've hit in a while,'' Blumfield said. ``The home run was the best ball I've hit all year.'' Redlin held the Highlanders to four hits and walked none. Shelburne, who will play next year at Stanford, had an RBI RBI abbr. Baseball runs batted in Noun 1. rbi - a run that is the result of the batter's performance; "he had more than 100 rbi last season" run batted in double. But mostly she enjoyed watching Blumfield. ``She was awesome,'' Shelburne said. ``It's like she has ice water in her veins.'' CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: Ashley Redlin pitched a four-hit shutout as El Camino Real beat Granada Hills Tuesday to advance to the City Section 4-A championship. David R. Crane / Daily News |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion