West Hills Stuns Bonita Vista to Claim Softball Title

From a mediocre 9-8-1 record barely a month ago to a championship game win against one of the top teams in the country. The West Hills High softball team capped an exhilarating playoff run with a 4-0 shutout of top-seeded Bonita Vista at UCSD on Saturday for the San Diego Section Division II crown.

West Hills starter Noelle Johnson hurled a complete-game two-hitter, striking out seven and walking none while improving her record to 13-7. The Barons, ranked 13th in the nation by MaxPreps.com, lost for just the second time all season.

They managed to beat Johnson 1-0 on two hits and an unearned run Thursday to run their record to 34-1 and force West Hills to beat fifth-seeded Point Loma to get a second shot at BV.

West Hills (19-10-1) scored twice in the fourth inning to break a scoreless tie. Freshman Cortney Horne doubled to right-center to plate Taylor Hallahan, who came around to score when Katie Byrd singled.

Jamie Bush and Hallahan drove in a run apiece in the seventh to give Johnson some added breathing room, though she wouldn't need it. Hallahan had three of the Pack's eight hits.

"To be honest, we didn't really think the season would turn out this way early in the year," said Johnson. "When we got to the playoffs, it all came together and we started playing as a team."

Horne also felt that the team subscribed to the "you gotta believe" theory as the season progressed.

"We had a belief in ourselves that we could get it done," she said.

And they did, winning the school's first softball championship since 1999 (as a Division I school) after runner-up finishes in 2002 and last year.