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Lindhurst High pitcher Jordan Stanalan delivers the ball to a Live Oak batter during a game earlier this season.
Chris Kaufman/Appeal-Democrat
Blazers face familiar foe
This time, the Lindhurst High softball team will be ready for Woodland Christian.
The Blazers take on Cardinals tonight at 7 o'clock in the opening round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Div. VI playoffs at the Lodi Softball Complex.
The two teams met once this season in a nonleague game, with the Cardinals edging Lindhurst, 2-1.
"I thought their pitcher was an ASA player who threw in the upper 50s," Lindhurst coach Bill Biggs said, so he adjusted the pitching machine the day before the game thinking the Blazers would be facing some heat.
Instead, the Cardinals hurler threw in the lower 50s, Biggs noted, adding it took a few innings for the Blazers to adjust to the slower pitches.
Other than that, the two clubs battled each other pretty evenly and Biggs expects another close game in the rematch.
He is quite familiar with one of Woodland Christian's players, shortstop/pitcher Brittany Keehn, who is a member of the local Drop Zone competitive softball program, of which Biggs is president.
"I've had her up here working on her hitting and pitching," Biggs said.
Keehn is second on the team in hitting with a .534 batting average, and a .989 slugging percentage. Mica Romero, the Cardinals' No. 1 pitcher, leads the team in hitting at .633 and a 1.211 slugging percentage.
Romero is 21-1 with 11 shutouts, with a 1.03 earned run average.
"She keeps the ball on the corners of the plate," Biggs said.
Lindhurst also has a few formidable players. Leading the team is Jennifer Rodriguez, who is batting .472 and .558 in league, with a 1.118 slugging percentage.
"She just got a new bat that's a little heavier and she was practically knocking holes in the chain-link fence of the batting cage," Biggs said. "I sure wouldn't want to be standing in front of her. It's pretty impressive for a sophomore."
Kristen Music actually leads the team in hitting with a .750 batting average, but she has appeared in only eight games.
Alisha Benge is third with a .368 average.
Another key player for the Blazers is Dylanne Brown, who only recently returned to the lineup after missing half of the league games with a broken wrist on her throwing hand.
"She's one of the top catchers I've ever coached," Biggs said of Brown, who is fourth on the team in hitting with a .351 batting average.
"We need to put the bat on the ball and don't make any errors," Biggs said.
Biggs said the Blazers have been working hard in practice on making level swings so they don't pop the ball up too often.
While the Cardinals (22-5-1) rely mostly on one pitcher, Lindhurst (14-8-1) has two hurlers it can go to with confidence — sophomore Jordan Stanaland and freshman Morgan Thome. Stanaland is 9-7 with a 0.86 ERA while Thome is 6-1 with a 1.09 ERA.
Biggs said the team has improved defensively behind his pitchers, in large part because of the play of Ashley Burns, Lateric Johnson and Music in the outfield.
The winner advances to Saturday's 10 a.m. semifinal at Arnaiz Stadium in Stockton. The championship is slated for 1 p.m. that afternoon.
Contact sports reporter Richard Myers at 749-4714 or rmyers@appeal-democrat.com
