SOFTBALL NOTEBOOK: SUCCESS KEEPS ON COMING FOR LOWE, JAVIER.

Byline: Ramona Shelburne Staff Writer

It's been a great past few months for Valencia High infielders Whitney Lowe and Breanne Javier.

In June, Lowe and Javier were key pieces to the Vikings' run to the Southern Section Div. I title game. Now, just two months later, Lowe and Javier are leading their travel team, the Southern California Diamonds, to a surprise run at the 18-under gold ASA national championships in Salinas.

``There's about five or six of us on this team that have been together for five years,'' said Lowe, who will play for Lehigh in the fall. ``So we're all really comfortable with each other and having fun.''

It helps that many of the Diamonds players are seniors, so there's no pressure to impress the college scouts who flock to the tournament every year looking for prospective recruits.

Last year, that pressure hurt the Diamonds, who traveled across the country trying to qualify for nationals but came up short.

``We just had some bad luck and ran into some really good teams at the qualifying tournaments,'' Lowe said. ``I don't know if there's so much that's different now. We just all seem to be hitting and having fun out there.''

The Diamonds have outscored their first two opponents 14-0 at the 64- team tournament. Former Royal High of Simi Valley pitcher Jordan McPherson has earned both victories.

The Diamonds spent Thursday at the Monterrey Aquarium but will be back in action in the winner's bracket quarterfinals at 11 a.m. today against the Florida Hurricanes.

--Other locals: Saugus High catcher Tiffany Huff and Valencia High infielder Danielle Maricle are off to good starts. Huff and Maricle play for the Orange County Batbusters, who opened 2-0 and earned a day off Thursday.

Huff has been playing first base at the tournament and continues to impress with her bat. So far, she's 2 for 5 with three RBI.

``It's really nice to start off 2-0,'' Huff said on Thursday. ``We don't even have a game today so we're going to Monterrey.''

Maricle played a lot of third base this summer but hasn't seen much action in the first two games because the Batbusters picked up former Agoura High standout third baseman Michelle Smith, who broke the single-season school home-run record as a freshman at Stanford last year.

The Batbusters play the Georgia Titans at 1:15 p.m. today, with the winner advancing to a winner's-bracket semifinal matchup at 7:30 p.m. against the winner of the Diamonds-Florida Hurricanes game.

Maricle's Valencia High teammate, pitcher Jordan Taylor, the Daily News Pitcher of the Year as a sophomore last season, is also off to a good start. The hard-throwing right-hander is the staff ace for Gordon's Panthers, who are also 2-0. Taylor has pitched both games and allowed just one run in 14 innings.

Taylor and the Gordon's Panthers also earned a day off on Thursday, but drew a tough quarterfinal opponent. The Panthers will face the Worth Firecrackers, an Orange County-based team, at 1:15 p.m. today. Camarillo High standout De Ann Young, an Oregon State signee, is among the top hitters for the Firecrackers.

Two other locals have had mixed results in Salinas. Valencia High infielder Alyssa Ishibashi and Vasquez High of Acton outfielder Shayne Lotito play for the Valley Breeze, which lost its opener on Tuesday. The Breeze regrouped to win 4-1 over Team Florida on Wednesday but must now play from the loser's bracket.

Ramona Shelburne, [phone]

ramona.shelburne(at)dailynews.com