With a chance to wrap up its second straight Bay League softball title, Palos Verdes wasn't lacking motivation.
A chance to dole out some vengeance certainly didn't hurt either.
Arianna Erceg threw a no-hitter, and Palos Verdes pounded out 18 hits in a 13-0 five-inning win Tuesday at West Torrance, avenging a loss that ranked as one of the more curious South Bay results this season.
After the West players left the playing field, Palos Verdes (18-10, 8-1) unfurled a Bay League championship banner and posed for pictures.
"We wanted to prove this was our title to win," Erceg said. "We were angry from that first game, and it was definitely motivation. It fueled us to our best performance.
"It means a lot to win this title. All our work has paid off. It feels like we've made a name for ourselves."
Erceg (12-5) struck out 10, walked one and hit two batters. Palos Verdes also played stellar defense behind Erceg.
"I warned our girls she was going to come after us," West coach Brigit Miskimen said. "She's a very good pitcher."
"We just didn't have any intensity this time. We lacked effort from the beginning, and that was embarrassing."
West pitcher Kimmi Takahashi (8-10) beat Palos Verdes, 3-2, in a commanding five-hitter on April 23, but this was a different story from the outset.
Every batter in Palos Verdes' batting order had at least one hit. Six players drove in at least one run. And Palos Verdes blistered six extra-base hits.
"We crowded the plate more this time, and that was a big difference because she doesn't come inside too often," Palos Verdes shortstop Haley Schenasi said. "We were so low after losing to them and so shocked, and I think it was because we were lackadaisical. We wanted to beat them by so much this time."
Schenasi led the bashing by going 4-for-4 with two doubles, a triple, four RBIs and three runs scored.
Sammi Gyerman also went 4-for-4 with a double, an RBI and three runs scored. Erceg, Carli Perez and Andrea Del Conte each had two hits and two RBIs for Palos Verdes.
"Our bats were on fire, and a pitcher loves to see that," Erceg said.
Gyerman said Palos Verdes played with purpose.
"We had to show them this is really who we are," Gyerman said. "That loss was hard on us, but we were not on our game. This was much more like us."
West (11-13, 5-4) saw its five-game winning streak in league come to a crashing halt, but remains in good position to clinch its first playoff berth since 2003.
"Our focus has been to get to CIF," Miskimen said. "But we definitely wanted to come up with a better performance here.
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