CLOVIS RIDES SOUTHERN'S ARM, MIGHTY BAT TO WIN
Lisa Burnett THE FRESNO BEE

Clovis High found the perfect accessory to Jamie Southern's strong and accurate right arm Friday afternoon -- her powerful bat.

Southern drove a double to center field to score Karla Snider with the winning run, and Clovis, ranked No. 2 in the Central Section, went on to a 3-0 victory over No. 3 Buchanan in a key Tri-River Athletic Conference softball game at Buchanan.

"She does that all the time," Cougars coach Mike Noel said of Southern, in her fourth varsity season. "She's been doing it for four years for us."

Southern had a perfect game going until Holly Pacini slapped a one-out single in the fifth inning. Southern, who signed early with Fresno State, finished with a one-hitter and 11 strikeouts. The only other Bears to reach base were Melissa Henley on a dropped-third strike and Marie Western on a fielder's choice that erased Henley in the sixth.

"Southern's tough," Buchanan coach Del January said. "She's one of the best around, and Clovis is a great team."

Bears starter Amanda Rodriguez also was solid, scattering three hits through the first five innings. But when Snider reached on an error in the sixth, Southern, who led off the game with a single, wasn't about to waste the opportunity. She ripped Rodriguez's first offering to center to send Snider home with the only run the Cougars would need.

"It's a game; you don't think about what you're doing, you just do it," Southern said of her crucial at-bat. "You have to be ready, and I felt, today, I was ready."

Three batters later, Alex Belardinelli hit an RBI single to score Southern. Pam Perez also scored on an error on the play.

"We knew whoever got the clutch hit and played tough would win," Buchanan assistant Dean Gregory said. "They did, and we didn't."

The Bears intentionally walked Southern to load the bases with two outs in the top of the seventh, but third baseman Sarina Aguilar caught a foul popup to end the inning.

Defensive replacement Sabrina Johnson turned in the defensive gem of the day, going all the way to the fence in left to catch a foul flyball in the bottom of the seventh.

McLane had three hits in the first inning to score three runs as the Highlanders defeated Edison 6-0 in the North Yosemite League. Rochelle DeAmaral pitched a complete game for McLane.

Candis Scharton pitched a four-hitter and struck out four as Hoover downed Fresno 5-0 in the NYL. The Patriots used two hits and cashed in on four Warriors' errors for three runs in the first inning.

Dominique Carrillo led off the bottom of the 11th inning with a home run to give Memorial a 4-3 Central Sequoia League victory over Sierra.

Baseball

Bullard scored five runs in the first inning, two on a hit by Nick Amendola, to ignite the No. 5 Knights to a 14-4 North Yosemite League victory over No. 7 Hoover.

Mike Walls pitched a complete game with five strikeouts and one walk.

Edward Rubio pitched Mendota's first complete game of the season, and the Aztecs' first North Sequoia League victory.

Rubio allowed four hits and struck out eight as Mendota knocked off No. 4 Chowchilla 4-2.

Back-to-back doubles by Tito Gomez and Jimmy Lozano scored three runs for Mendota in the fifth inning.

Sierra moved to the top of the Central Sequoia League standings with a 9-4 victory over No. 7 Memorial.

Jamie Cedarquist drove in the decisive run and shut down Immanuel on a complete-game four-hitter as Fowler beat the visiting Eagles 2-1 for first place in the West Sierra League.

Cedarquist, undefeated in nine decisions, relied on an effective curveball and changeup to strike out nine and walk one. He allowed a seventh-inning run on a balk.

His two-out RBI single in the fifth inning, just after Nick Ferreira scored on a double steal, gave the Redcats a 2-0 lead.