Lancaster Falls Back to Earth, 11-1

OK, so maybe the Eagles haven’t landed. But they are definitely on their approach.

Lancaster High, in only its third year of varsity softball, lost to host Quartz Hill, 11-1, on Thursday in a game for first place in the Golden League.

The game was called in the sixth inning because of the 10-run rule.

The Eagles (5-7, 3-1 in league play), who have never advanced to the playoffs, set up the showdown by opening Golden League play with victories over Palmdale and Littlerock, and a 2-1 upset of Highland, one of the region’s best offensive teams.

“We’ve never been in this situation before, where we are contending,” Lancaster Coach Kara Johnson said. “We were a bit nervous today, but our goal is to get to the playoffs, and we’re still within reach of that.”

It’s been a breakthrough year at Lancaster, a fourth-year school which has its first senior class.

The football team advanced to the Southern Section Division III quarterfinals, and the baseball team trails only Palmdale in the championship race.

Quartz Hill (18-1, 4-0), seeking its fourth consecutive league title and eighth in nine seasons.

“We weren’t looking too much at the past,” said co-Coach Ben Meyer of Quartz Hill. “We were more concerned with making a statement for this year.”

The Rebels, ranked No. 1 in the region by The Times, had nine players contribute to a 14-hit attack against right-hander Marciea Ball.

In her last start, Ball (1-5) allowed only three hits to Highland, a team that is batting .364.

Kellie Cox, Sayoko Rutledge, Christa Galier and Amanda Ricker each had two hits. Andrea Cabriales had a two-run single and Cassie Corless added a two-run double for the Rebels.

“We wanted this game a lot,” said Jodie Cox (18-1), who struck out eight and allowed no runs and one hit in four innings. “We knew we couldn’t take them lightly.”

Tara Jensen homered for Lancaster.