Any and all hints at a possible late-season slump vanished on Saturday as the Trinity softball team blanked Prosser 10-0 to win its own Class 3A Regional Championship at Triton College. The Blazers (23-10), who had dropped two regular-season games in a row before the championship, took home their fourth consecutive regional title.
How did they do it? They Blazers went back to the basics: Hitting, pitching and fielding.
Leadoff hitter Mimi Ramirez truly led the way with four hits, three of which came by way of bunts. Ramirez’s speed didn’t stop there as she had five stolen bases on the day.
“It’s always my goal to steal as many bases as I can,” she said.
Ramirez was happy with the win for the team’s only senior, Lauren Wambach. “[Lauren’s] our first senior to go out with four regional titles in a row.”
Shortstop Monica Albano went 4-for-4 on the day with a triple, two doubles and a single. The junior finished with four RBIs.
“The pitcher was slower than normal. We had to aim for the ground. Once we did, we started getting runs,” said Albano.
Annie Logisz and Erica LeCoure each had two singles apiece for the Blazers.
Pitchers Becca Madormo and Emma-Leigh Strock combined for a no-hitter that went six innings. Madormo started the game with a strikeout, and Strock returned the favor to strikeout the last batter she faced.
Madormo talked about pitching at the varsity level, “It’s amazing, but it can be more stressful then it can be on JV. On varsity, they hit a lot better,” she said.
Prosser did not get a ball past the infield the entire game. Both Wambach and Albano made good throws to LeCoure at first to get the outs needed to preserve the no-hitter.
“It doesn’t matter who you play in the regional; it’s a regional championship. Prosser played a nice game,” said Trinity head coach Bob Osborne. “Our next goal is the sectional. We take it one game at a time. We beat [Guerin] earlier 11-0, but we take nothing for granted.”
Trinity hosts Guerin today at Triton (4:30 p.m.) in the sectional semifinal. A win puts the Blazers in the sectional title game on Saturday, again at Triton (Noon).