Southern Section 4-A Softball : St. Joseph Wins Title on No-Hitter

St. Joseph High School softball pitcher Lisa Fernandez hasn’t left herself much to look forward to in the remaining three years of her prep career.

She pitched a no-hitter and was one baserunner away from a perfect game Saturday night as the Jesters beat Fountain Valley, 2-0, to earn the Southern Section 4-A championship before 3,100 fans at Mayfair Park in Lakewood.

Fernandez’s perfect game was broken up in the sixth inning when the Barons’ No. 9 hitter, Dara Price, grounded sharply to the right side of the infield. Jester shortstop Gina Lopiccolo knocked the ball down with her glove but was unable to make a play.

The ball appeared to be a legitimate infield single but was ruled an error by the official CIF scorer, and Fernandez went on to record her fifth no-hitter of the season.

St. Joseph Coach Debbie Taylor said Fernandez, 15, has thrown 3 perfect games, 8 one-hitters, and 11 two-hitters for the Angelus League champions (19-7-1). She has pitched 207 innings, striking out more than 300 of the batters she faced. She fanned nine Saturday.

“She’s very mature and in control on the mound,’ Taylor said. “She had not pitched much this week because her elbow was bothering her.’

The Jesters’ Ana Veloz scored in the second inning when the Barons’ usually reliable defense committed two errors behind pitcher Patti Taylor (19-4).

St. Joseph scored its other run in the fifth after Lisa Podesta led off with a single and took advantage of another pair of Baron mistakes to score. Fountain Valley finished the year 25-5 after advancing farther than any other team in school history.

The title was the first for St. Joseph since moving up to the 4-A division.