Torrey Pines Lady Falcons Softball

RANCHO BERNARDO ---- Jon Moore is always preaching to his Torrey Pines High softball team that it takes a village to win in life.

And, according to Moore, that goes for softball as well.

With Wednesday's 1-0 victory over Rancho Bernardo in the Palomar League opener for both teams, Moore claimed his 300th victory as the Falcons coach.

Senior Lauren Hynes' first-inning single was enough for junior pitcher Rachel Nasland to toss a three-hitter.

"This is so special for me because we have such good girls and good parents, and I enjoy this very much,' said Moore, who is now 300-174-13 in his 16th year at Torrey Pines. "This milestone means we've had a lot of good girls and good parents over the years.

"This may be the best group I've ever had as far as having a work ethic.'

By winning, the Falcons are now 20-2 overall and 1-0 in league play.

"Winning on the road in this league is more like a win-and-a-half,' Moore said. "Getting a road win is so very critical.'

But this win took a double play and Nasland's final strikeout in the seventh inning to notch the victory.

"If we can score a run, we're set,' Hynes said. "We always say we want to score first, get ahead and make the other team think about trailing as long as possible.'

Nasland allowed one walk and struck out six in improving her record to 10-1.

She allowed only three runners into scoring position.

Not one Bronco reached third base.

"It was kind of lonely for me,' said Rancho Bernardo coach Summer Downs, who coaches at third base. "We had chances, but we couldn't execute when we had them, and you won't get all that many against Nasland.'

The best scoring chance for Rancho Bernardo (13-5-1, 0-1) came in the sixth inning. Megan Andrew's one-out double was followed by a ground out, with Andrew staying at second base, and a line out.

In the seventh inning, the Broncos got the lead off runner on when Danielle Knoetze's fly ball was dropped for an error.

But Nasland induced Tiana Miller to line out to shortstop Lauren Filicia, who turned that into an unassisted double play.

Nasland struck out opposing pitcher Sara White to hand Moore his milestone win.

"We wanted this for him today on the first try,' Nasland said. "It helped drive us all day to get it for him. We came out with a lot of energy.'

Filicia scored the lone run after reaching White, who fell to 11-5, for a two-out walk. She stole second base and rode home on Hynes single up the middle.

The Falcons had just one more hit against White, who walked five and struck out seven, the rest of the way.

"As a pitcher, that first run means I can go right at batters,' said Nasland, who threw a first-pitch strike to 16 of the 24 batters she faced and needed just 88 pitches for the shutout compared to 130 pitches by White. "You still have to hold them, but they know they're chasing you and that can be frustrating.

"We thought this would be a 1-0 game and we wanted to give it to coach and start off league play the right way.'

With a milestone none of the Falcons will ever forget.