Archer Softball Pulls Off Upset

The Archer School for Girls knocked off number four seed Faith Baptist by a score of 6-4 in the second round of the CIF-SS Division 7 playoffs.  

Archer, now 16-3 overall and on an 11-game win streak, advances to the CIF quarterfinals to face Mesa Grande Academy on Friday.  

Faith Baptist, a 2011 CIF semifinalist that came into the game ranked number 12 in the state (division 5) by ESPNHS, finished the season 15-10.  Sophomore left-hander Carolyn Zaccaro picked up the win for Archer in relief of older sister Christine Zaccaro, a senior right hander.  The "Killer Z's"  combined to limit the powerful Contender bats to three hits and four runs.  

Due to the odd configuration of the Faith Baptist home field, the game was moved to Birmingham High School in Van Nuys. Archer came up with a run in the top of the first against Contender senior Jacquelyn Rasmussen, one of the top rated pitchers in the division.  Faith Baptist returned fire with two runs on only one hit in the bottom of the first, taking advantage of the Archer team nerves.  

The top of the Archer batting order continued to hit Rasmussen hard, scoring a run in the third and rallying for three runs in the top 5th inning to take a 5-3 lead.  

Going into the top of the seventh and final inning, Archer held a 5-4 lead. Ninth grader Claire Kristof led off the top half of the inning with a massive blast to dead center for a triple.  Senior Christine Zaccaro followed with a run-scoring double.  

In the bottom of the seventh inning, pitcher Carolyn Zaccaro helped out on defense by making a diving catch on a pop up to record out number one.  The next batter grounded a 3-2 pitch to second for out number two. 

Junior Lindsay Levesque, playing second base, backhanded a sharply hit ball into the hole with a diving play and then threw to first base from the ground for the third and final out.

Offensively, shortstop ShaVonne Higgins and third baseman Claire Kristof combined for four hits, three RBI's and four runs scored.  

The team will now face Mesa Grande Academy in Calimesa. The team boasts a 22-4 overall record to go with a Victory League championship.  They are on a 19-game win streak and are undefeated this season at home.  The Cardinals are led by Sophomore  Jen Deiner.  The right handed pitcher has a 20-4 record to go with a 0.81 ERA.  She has struck out 216 batters in 121 innings.  She also wields a mean stick, sporting a .515 batting average to go with 7 home runs and 42 RBI's.  

If Archer can pull off the win over MGA, they will host the semifinal game on the Archer campus on Tuesday, May 29th, most likely against the top ranked team in the state and defending CIF champions Pomona Catholic.   

The quarterfinals game between The Archer School for Girls and Mesa Grande Academy will be played Friday, May 25th at the MGA Field, 975 Fremont Street, Calimesa, CA. Game time is 4:15 p.m.

Denny Lennon is the Athletic Director for The Archer School for Girls. He has invited those who cannot go to the game to text him at 310-877-5293 for the results of Friday's game.