SOFTBALL NOTEBOOK: MAKE OR BREAK FOR AREA RIVALS.Byline: 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. Staff Writer Not to sound dire or anything, but this week is pretty much make-or- break for the Valencia and Saugus softball teams. One team could end the week in first place, the other in third place. Or, the Foothill League race could be even more confusing than it already is. Valencia has the most influence over how the week will end, by virtue of having the toughest schedule. The Vikings (14-4, 3-1) and Saugus (15-4, 3-1) are tied for second place, one game back of Hart (9-7-1, 4-0). Valencia and Saugus play for the first time this season at 3:15 p.m. today at Saugus to decide second place. The Vikings will then host Hart at 3:15 p.m. Thursday. If Valencia defeats Saugus, the game will be for first place. If Valencia loses to Saugus, another loss could drop the Vikings to third, three games behind In sports, the phrase games behind, often abbreviated as GB in tables, is a common way to reflect the gap between a leading team and another team in a sports league, conference, or division. Hart and two back of Saugus. ``It's always in the back of our minds,'' Valencia pitcher Christina Ross said of the playoff implications of this week's games. ``But you have to go in with the mindset mind·set or mind-set n. 1. A fixed mental attitude or disposition that predetermines a person's responses to and interpretations of situations. 2. An inclination or a habit. that you're going to win.'' Ross was a hard-luck loser the first time her team played Hart. She threw a no-hitter but lost 1-0 when Hart's Jennifer Whitcomb made a heads-up base-running move to score the game-winning run. But Ross said her team is being careful not to look ahead to Thursday's rematch REMATCH Cardiology Clinical trials–Randomized Evaluation of Mechanical Assistance Therapy as an alternative in Congestive Heart failure–related to use of a portable, electric left ventricular-assist system–LVAS–eg, HeartMate® with Hart. ``I haven't really watched Saugus but I know they're a very good team,'' Ross said. ``I saw them play against Hart and both teams hit really well in that game.'' --Be ready to swing: Hart's Robyn Kontra doesn't mess around. Batters who step into the box looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. a walk will be sorely disappointed. Through her first 14 games, Kontra was yielding only 0.49 walks per game and throwing strikes on 70 percent of her pitches (940 of 1,379). Opponents had a .195 batting average batting average n. Baseball A measure of a batter's performance obtained by dividing the total of base hits by the number of times at bat, not including walks. Noun 1. against the senior right-hander. --Potential rematch: Valencia and Hart are both entered in the upper division of the Thousand Oaks Thousand Oaks, residential city (1990 pop. 104,352), Ventura co., S Calif., in a farm area; inc. 1964. Avocados, citrus, vegetables, strawberries, and nursery products are grown. tournament, which begins Saturday, and could play each other in the second round if both win or lose their first games. Valencia opens at 8 a.m. against 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 winners of those two games will face each other at 9:45 a.m., and the losers will also play each other at the same time. The same scenario happened last season when Valencia and Hart met in the championship of the High Desert Classic in Lancaster. However, that game came before league play ended. The Thousand Oaks tournament features 16 of the top teams in Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, . It concludes May 8. Ramona Shelburne, (818) 713-3617 ramona.shelburne(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo Photo: With a victory over Saugus today, Christina Ross and Valencia could secure second place in league and then face Hart on Thursday with first place on the line. Charlotte Schmid-Maybach/Staff Photographer |
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