Pack’s Thornton Perfect In victory; Norsemen’s Villalva spins 1-hitter; Teams share Valley crown
- Updated: May 12, 2023
2023 EAST COUNTY PREP SOFTBALL
By Adam Paul
SANTEE – Fifteen batters came to the plate and fifteen batters were set down as West Hills’ Alyssa Thornton hurled a perfect game on Friday (May 12) in a five-inning 20-0 victory over El Cajon Valley in Grossmont Valley League action.
Thornton, a senior, really made her senior day memorable with a performance of fanning eleven batters in her first-ever perfect game in her high school career.
West Hills tallied eighteen hits on the day, with Ava Goodman driving in five runs, as she had three hits including a pair of doubles.
Freshman Katy Spargo would belt a two-run home run for her eighth of the season; she also had three hits and drove in three runs.
Offensively, the Pack would score eight runs in the fourth inning. Spargo, Goodman, Chiara Burgin, Kristina Deal, Maddie Aylesbury, and Samiya Wright all knocked in runs in the inning.
Senior Jaci Mckindley, who went 2-for-4, would also drive in three runs in the game.
El Cajon Valley finishes out the regular season with a 5-15 overall record and 0-10 in league play.
West Hills finishes 17-7-1 overall and 9-1 in league play.
Valhalla 8, Grossmont 0
RANCHO SAN DIEGO – Senior Naomi Villalva fired a one-hit complete game shutout, as the Valhalla Norsemen came away with the victory over the Grossmont Foothillers on Friday (May 12) in Grossmont Valley League play.
Early on, the Valhalla Norsemen would take advantage of a Foothiller miscue to take a 1-0 lead. They would do the same in the second inning with two outs, as another error led to two runs scoring to make it 3-0.
Later, in the bottom of the sixth inning, leading 4-0, the Norsemen would push across four more runs, this time with two outs.
Preslee Fink drove in a run, Villalva drove in a run, and Avery Voth drove in the other two runs in the inning.
Cadyn Ruffer not only would finish 3-for-4 at the plate and score three runs, but would wreak havoc on the bases as she swiped three in the game.
Fink, Devyn Mack, and Voth all would finish with two hits apiece.
Heidi Villa would have the lone hit in the game for Grossmont with a single in the third inning.
Grossmont finishes the regular season with an overall record of 10-16 and 6-4 in league play.
Valhalla, winners of five in a row, finishes 17-10-1 overall and 9-1 in league play.
With the win, and also with West Hills winning their game, both teams will share the Grossmont Valley League crown for the second season in a row.
Both teams will now head into the CIF San Diego Section playoffs in pretty good shape. Right now, West Hills sits in the third spot, just barely above Point Loma in Division III, while Valhalla currently sits in the sixth spot in Division II right behind Ramona.
Playoff seeds and brackets will be announced tomorrow and will come out sometime early morning or mid-day.
