Softball: Westlake looking to get by without its ace

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Westlake‘s hopes of challenging top-dogs Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley for the Marmonte League title are looking pretty grim now that Stanford-bound pitcher Jenna Becerra is out with a broken finger.

Last Wednesday against Saugus, the Warriors’ ace broke her right pinky finger on a bad hop while playing at shortstop -- the position Stanford has recruited her to play. Westlake Coach Lynn Baum said she’s expected to be out three to six weeks.

If this sounds familiar, it is. Last year, Becerra missed the second half of the season after breaking her right index finger. ‘She’s a big part of our lineup,’ Baum said. ‘Things are going to be really tough until she comes back.’

And things went from bad to worse on Tuesday when pitcher Christine Magee took a comebacker to her upper leg in the top of the sixth inning against Royal. She left the game with the score tied, 1-1, before Royal scored six unanswered runs against a freshman pitcher making her varsity debut.

Baum said she’s not sure if Magee will be available to pitch on Thursday against Thousand Oaks.

‘We’ve been having some bad luck,’ Baum said. ‘I just hope (Magee) will be ready for Thousand Oaks.’

-- Austin Knoblauch