It hasn’t been a good 24 hours for a trio of the top high school pitchers in the country, three All-Americans who have been lights out this year, but in all three cases lost in their final contest of the season—the championship game.

And in one case, it could have particularly devastating consequences.

* Last night Taylor McQuillin of No 1 ranked Mission Viejo (Calif.) struck out 15 batters but it was all for naught as the Diablos lost 1-0 to Yucaipa and saw their undefeated season and lock for the top final ranking get pushed away.

* Today, in the Ohio Div. I championship game, Tara Trainer, the senior pitcher for Lebanon High who is headed to Indiana, had a no-hitter going into the bottom of the 8^th inning, but her first allowed hit was a walk-off home run to Ashville Teays Valley (24-9) junior pitcher Alyssa Rothwell, a Ball State commit.

It also ended the chance for a perfect season for Lebanon, which finished 33-1. Rothwell matched Trainer pitch by pitch, only giving up one hit herself.   Trainer, named the Ohio Gatorade State Player of the Week on Thursday, recorded 14 K’s with only one walk while Rothwell struck out seven and walked three.

* But the most brutal ending had to have come in the CIF (Calif.) Southern Section Div. IV playoff where All-American Rachel Garcia of Palmdale Highland, named this week as the California Gatorade Player of the Year, had a masterful game as she struck out 24 batters in 12 innings against Torrance.

Garcia, blowing pitch after pitch past Torrance batters had at least two K’s in every inning except the 5^th and 9^th when she had one, although she struck out the side in the 6^th and 10^th innings.

The UCLA commit and member of the Jr. National Team only allowed three hits, but in the bottom of the 12^th inning, it looked like her defense was going to do her in as the leadoff batter for the Tartars hit an easy grounder to third that was thrown past the first baseman and the runner advanced to second base.

After two strikeouts, junior third baseman Kaitlyn Christian blooped a single to left and it looked like Torrance would pull out the big win, but outfielder Kaitlyn Cronin made a great throw to the plate to nail the runner for the last out.

However, on the pitch, Garcia collapsed to the ground with a left leg injury and had to be helped off after the play.

She was able to come to the plate and single in the top of the 13^th, but with the score still 0-0 in the bottom of the 13^th, Garcia again collapsed while doing warm-ups and had to be helped off the field with what one source said the player herself worried “could be a left knee ACL injury.”

UCLA head coach Kelly Inouye-Perez and Assistant Coach Lisa Fernandez were there and looked grim as they left after the game when Garcia was taken to the emergency room for analysis.

Torrance would take advantage of Garcia’s absence to win 1-0 as CeCe Da Costa led off the inning with a single, advance to second on a sac bunt, to third on an error and scored on a single to right center by sophomore catcher Britny Jumalon.

But the game result—other than for the Torrance contingent, which celebrated its second title win (the other in 1991)—was almost an afterthought following the sobering sight of Garcia being carried off the field.

Ironically, if Torrance had scored in the bottom of the 12^th, Garcia may have taken the loss, but not suffered an injury which could keep her off the USA Jr. Women’s Team this summer, a blow to her and the USA team.

Kudos to junior pitcher Marissa Moreno as well.  The San Diego State commit allowed only five hits over 13 innings while striking out 14 Highland batters.

* At least one All-American pitching candidate did have a strong day: Kendra Friedt, the senior for Southington (Conn.) High gave up only hit while striking out 17 in a 10-0 win over Trumbull giving the Lady Knights its 68^th straight victory.

Amazingly, Friedt, who has signed with Boston College, has never lost a high school game, but that record will be tested on Tuesday in the Class LL semi’s as Southington will face South Windsor and pitcher Peyton Silverman, a junior committed to North Carolina State.

Other notable teams with strong pitchers in the CT State Tournament semi’s are Oxford (Class M) with Coastal Carolina commit Ashley Guillette (who originally had committed to Florida); Seymour (Class M) with Bucknell commit Raeanne Geffert and Darien (Class LL) with Virginia commit Erika Osherow.

That means with Friedt, Silverman and Osherow there are three ACC committed pitchers in the CT State LL semi-finals.

***

Here’s a quick look at other championship games across the nation on Saturday…

California:

Along with the Torrance win at the Div. IV level, here were the other Southern Section Division finals:

— In Division V, top seed St. Bonaventure from Venture won its second straight CIF-SS championship by beating Garden Grove 8-0. Last year the Seraphs won the Div. 6 title. Celio Mexa, a senior pitcher going to Long Beach State gave up only three hits while walking none. She recorded eight K’s after striking out 17, 18, 19 and 21 in earlier playoff wins.

— In the first game of the day, Paraclete of Lancaster won the Division 6 title by stopping Savanna 9-2. Savanna jumped out to a 1-0 lead when leadoff batter Kristin Worley reached on a bunt single and Paraclete pitcher Kailla Searcy three the ball past first base, allowing Worley to come all the way around. However, Searcy—who is a Central Arkansas commit—settled down and allowed only five more hits while striking out six to record the win.

— The last game of the day at Bill Barber Stadium in Irvine, Calif. was the Div. I showdown between Norco–which was the FAB 50 No. 1 team at the end of the 2012 season–and West Ranch and it was a great game, even if it did start almost two hours late because of the marathon pitching dual in the preceeding game, the Torrance win over Highland. West Ranch took a 2-0 lead into the top of the 7th, but in its last at-bat Norco scored four and held on to win. Tennessee bound C/IF Abby Lockman had an RBI single and junior infielder Kwynn Warner, a Nevada commit, had a two-run single as part of the last inning outburst that led to the victory.

Ohio:

Three of the four Buckeye State championship games on Saturday were one-run thrillers. Along with the Div. I extra-inning win by Teays Valley over Lebanon, here’s a look at who won the other contests:

— In Division II, Granville trailed Hebron Lakewood 1-0 in the bottom of the fifth before pushing ahead the eventual winning run on an RBI single down the right field line by freshman Rose Sawyers. Senior pitcher Abby Barker gave up five hits while striking out six in the complete game win between the two schools that are just 10 miles apart.

— The Division III game was noteworthy because of the absence of Taran Alvelo, the All-American pitcher who was not with the team due to an incident that happened Thursday following the semi-final win. Warren Champion took advantage of the missing star pitcher to win its 6^th state title as senior pitcher Haylee Gardiner gave up just two hits while striking out six to run her record to 18-2 for the Golden Flashes who finished 30-4 for the season.

— Just like the Division I game, the Div. IV championship contest went eight innings as Shadyside beat North Lewisburg Triad 1-0 when freshman Kailyn Weaver led off with an infield single, went to third on an error and scored on a squeeze bunt by junior Lindsey Dunn. Senior pitcher Megan Heagney was also a star as she pitched all eight innings giving up just four hits while striking out 13.

Texas

— In the 6A championship game held in Austin at the Univ. of Texas, Katy trailed 2-1 to Lewisville before tying the game in the bottom of the fourth and scored the winning run in the bottom of the seventh thanks to a pair of Lewisville errors. second baseman Nicole Valdez led off the inning and reached on an error and then advanced to third on a throwing error by the pitcher. With the bases loaded right fielder McKay Bloxham got the game-winning RBI on a fielder’s choice and won despite being outhit 9 to 5. Lewisville also left 10 runners on to hurt its cause. Kylie Redding pitched 3 2/3^rd innings of scoreless ball to earn the win.

— At the 5A level, Aledo jumped out to a 3-0 lead and held on to win 3-2 as CP Vista Ridge scored twice in the bottom of the seventh, but Lauren Craine closed the door to get the complete game win and run her record to 22-1 for the year. Riley Sartain, a senior infielder headed to Texas A&M, was the hitting star as she had a homer and an RBI double to help Aledo finish with a 23-1 record.

— In the 4A match-up, Needville jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the second, but Huffman Hargrove stormed back with a decisive five-run fifth inning to win the championship 6-4. Megan Unroe came in to pitch in the second inning and was the difference, as she scattered five hits while striking out eight and not allowing a run in her six innings of work. Centerfielder Maggie McCloskey paced the Hargrave offense as she went 2-for-3 with a pair of RBI and runs scored.

North Carolina

— In the 4A Division championship, which had been owned by Alexander Central of Taylorsville in the recent past, North Davidson won Friday in the best two-of-three series defeated Greenville Conley 3-2 and had to win just one game on Saturday to take the championship.

But Conley took the second game 5-0 in the afternoon game in Dail Softball Stadium at North Carolina State to force the decisive game.

And the only run of the game, scored by Conley in the first inning, happened in a strange series of events.

The Vikings got two hits, but Cara Davis was thrown out at the plate and pitcher Emily Kirby appeared to swing and strikeout so the North Davidson players ran off the field.

However, the umpire never signaled an out, ruling that the catcher trapped the pitch—thus was a dropped ball– from Black Knight hurler Blakely Thrower and the play was still live. North Davidson’s Makenna Matthijs took advantage of the confusion to run home and Kirby ran to first allowing the run to count.

That was the last time the victor’s would reach base as Thrower retired 16 straight, but North Davidson pitcher Kirby was equally strong, scattering four hits while striking out eight.