Mater Dei Finds Perfect Solution With Bollinger

CAMARILLO —  Tia Bollinger of Mater Dei provided the perfect antidote for the Monarchs’ offensive woes against Camarillo on Tuesday afternoon:

A perfect game.

Bollinger retired the 24 batters she faced and Mater Dei capitalized on two errors in the eighth inning for a 1-0 victory over Camarillo in a Southern Section Division I softball semifinal game at Camarillo.

Camarillo (23-8) has lost to Mater Dei (31-1) in a late-round playoff game in four of the past five years, including the 1996 final.

Bollinger, who is headed to Washington on scholarship, simply found a different way to beat the Scorpions.

“To throw a perfect game against a team like this is really spectacular,” Bollinger said.

Locked in a pitching duel with Camarillo’s Kathryn Nevard, Bollinger waltzed through the Scorpions’ lineup as if she was late for a date.

The senior right-hander struck out 11 and needed only 79 pitches in eight innings to notch her 30th victory in 31 decisions.

Camarillo’s Nicki Holt, who will be Bollinger’s teammate at Washington, was the only batter to get all of a Bollinger pitch. Holt lined out to shortstop Christina Clark in the seventh.

“[Bollinger] was throwing great,” Camarillo Coach Miki Mangan said. “That’s probably the best pitching we’ve seen all year.”

Camarillo’s offense was suspect all season and Bollinger simply took advantage.

“We were chasing everything,” Mangan said.

Nevard, bound for Illinois on scholarship, faced a much tougher lineup than Bollinger and held her own until Camarillo’s defense broke down in the eighth.

Pinch-hitter Desiree Gutierrez reached on throwing error by third baseman Beth Boskovich to lead off the inning.

The next batter, pinch-hitter Molly McLean, bunted to first baseman Ryanne Fortney, whose errant throw to first allowed Gutierrez to advance to third.

Sheila McCorkle’s single to right field scored Gutierrez but McLean, who had stolen second, was thrown out at the plate by right fielder Lindsay Calderon.

The loss spoiled an admirable outing for Nevard in her final high school game.

Nevard (17-6), who scattered singles in the second, seventh and eighth and struck out three, retired 13 batters in order in the middle innings.

“It’s tough to lose on errors,” Nevard said. “I told my coach I would much rather them hit a home run off me than lose on an error.”

Mater Dei stranded runners in scoring position in the first, third and seventh innings, all on infield pop-ups.