Thursday, April 20, 2000 | 11:41 a.m.
Compared to its peers to the south and west, the Northeast Division was generally expected to be home to a barren softball wasteland this season.
So far this spring, however, Eldorado High School has done its share to alter those perceptions, racking up a whopping 19 wins to prove it deserves a spot among the area's top teams.
And on Wednesday, the Sundevils took another step in their quest for respect, posting a 9-5 win over a solid Santana (Calif.) squad to capture the bronze championship in the Fred Davison Memorial Tournament.
"Initially we weren't going to come to this tournament, but we got in late and I thought coming here would give us some momentum going into the zone playoffs," Eldorado coach Ken Trujillo said.
The Sundevils (19-5) finished the three-day event with a 4-2 tournament record, although for much of Wednesday's title game it looked like they might wind up 3-3.
After the locals failed to capitalize on good scoring chances in the first three innings, the Sultans (7-9) got to Eldorado pitcher Crystal Alspaugh for a run in the fourth and another in the fifth to take a 2-0 lead.
No sooner did the Sundevils get down, though, than they rallied back to take a commanding 5-2 lead in the bottom of the fifth. Tiffany Mathews, Brentley Bridgeforth, Alspaugh and Mindy Allen all came up with clutch two-out hits to key the attack.
Eldorado's San Diego-area opponents got back into the game in the top of the sixth, scoring two runs thanks in part to some wildness by Alspaugh, who walked two consecutive batters in the inning.
But after the Sundevils' pitcher induced a fly ball to get out of trouble, the locals put four more runs on the board in the bottom half of the inning, chasing Santana starter Randi Allen from the game and putting the contest out of reach.
Eldorado's Janelle Gervais finished 3-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI. Mathews went 2-for-3 with an RBI. Earlier in the day, the Sundevils won a battle of Northeast Division clubs, besting Las Vegas 1-0. The game's lone run came via a Las Vegas error.
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