SOUTHERN SECTION 4-A SOFTBALL PLAYOFFS : Gonzalez’s 1-0 Victory Is Foothill’s 22nd in a Row

ANAHEIM — Foothill High School softball players dumped a bucket of cold water on Coach Joe Gonzalez moments after the Knights doused Charter Oak’s playoff hopes with a 1-0 victory in the semifinals of the Southern Section 4-A playoffs Tuesday at Canyon High School.

Second-seeded Foothill (24-2), which has won 22 consecutive games, advances for the first time to the title game against another newcomer to the finals, fourth-seeded Irvine (24-3), at 8 p.m. Friday at Mayfair Park in Lakewood.

Foothill again relied on the pitching of junior right-hander Leeann Gonzalez (21-2) and its opportunistic offense.

Gonzalez, the coach’s daughter, had a scary first inning in which Charter Oak (18-3) threatened to score, but she breezed through the final six. She struck out 10, allowed three hits and no walks.

Charter Oak, the Sierra League champions, rattled Foothill in the first inning when leadoff batter Kathi Evans grounded the ball to Gonzalez, who threw it away for a two-base error. Evans then took third on a wild pitch.

Laurie Grey followed with a grounder to shortstop Kathy Shortall, who got Grey at first. Evans, attempting to score on the play, was thrown out at the plate by first baseman Christina Mazurie. Gonzalez struck out Cyndi Parus for the third out.

“We played great defense and had sound pitching,” Joe Gonzalez said. “That’s what it takes to win.”

A run here or there also helps, and the Knights managed to get one in the second inning.

With one out, Mazurie reached on an infield single and stole second. Andrea Chambers fouled out to the catcher, but freshman Julie Metzger singled to left to drive in Mazurie. Foothill never mounted much of an attack after that.

Charter Oak, however, had a couple of scoring opportunities. The Chargers had a runner on second with no outs in the fifth before Gonzalez pitched her way out of the jam.

In the seventh, Parus led off with a line-drive single to right that Chambers almost flagged down. Pitcher Christy Tucker sacrificed her to second, but Gonzalez got Christina Osornia on a fly to left and Shari Shultz on a grounder to third.