‘YOU’RE OUT!’—Grace Brethren shortstop Carleigh Peterson, right, puts the tag on Marymount baserunner Hayley Schultz. WENDY PIERRO/Acorn Newspapers Grace Brethren’s softball team should be happy to change divisions next year, because the Lancers have seen more than enough of Marymount High and its top pitcher, Hayley Schultz.

For the second straight season, Grace Brethren was eliminated from the CIF-Southern Section Division 6 playoffs by Marymount’s junior hurler, this time in the semifinals, 5-1.

Next season, the Lancers (13-5) will join the Division 3 Tri- Valley League.

Like last year in the quarterfinals, Schultz was in complete control Tuesday at GBHS. The right-hander gave up only one run on four hits while striking out 11 batters.

Although Schultz was masterful on the rubber, Grace Brethren senior catcher and future Purdue Boilermaker Danielle Fletcher thought it would have been a different outcome had the Lancers not committed three errors.

Schultz “didn’t beat us, we lost it,” Fletcher said. “We were not on our A-game today at all. We definitely showed some nerves in the first inning, and I thought we could have been more prepared in our short game.”

With the bases loaded and nobody out in the top of the first, the Lancers fell behind 2-0 due to throwing errors by Fletcher and shortstop Carleigh Peterson on the same groundball hit by Sailor catcher Ali Griffiths.

Marymount added two more runs in the top of the third on RBI singles by Griffiths and Schultz to give the Sailors a 4-0 lead.

Pitching with a lead, Schultz promptly retired the first nine batters in the Lancer lineup, including seven in a row on strikeouts.

Schultz’s perfect game ended in the bottom of the fourth, however, when Lancer junior Kassy Dunn hit a rise ball off Shultz over the leftfield fence for a home run.

“I knew a little bit about Schultz, having faced her last year,” Dunn said. “With two strikes on me, I knew as a pitcher myself that she would try to throw a rise ball on me. I waited for it, and I did a good job of getting under it. I hustled to first base, but I knew as soon as I hit it that it was gone.”

Two batters later, Fletcher singled to center field. Grace Brethren’s rally was squashed moments later, though, when Fletcher was thrown out trying to steal second.

The Sailors added some insurance in the top of the seventh when Meagan Rafferty drove in Griffiths with an RBI single to give Marymount a 5-1 lead.

Fletcher briefly gave Grace Brethren life in the bottom of the seventh with a double, but those hopes were dashed when she slipped rounding second base and was tagged out at third for the inning’s first out.

Two batters later, Schultz ended the game by striking out Peterson.

Despite the loss, Grace Brethren head coach Norma Skinner was proud of the season her team put together.

“I’ll remember this team as one that loved to practice,” the coach said. “We practiced more than usual since we had a lot of games canceled.

“It’s difficult to practice sometimes when you don’t know what you’re doing it for, but this was a fun group of girls. I’ll always remember the girls’ unity and how they had no drama between them.”