Prep Softball: Shaw throws no-hitter in Poway’s walk-off win

The Poway High softball team has faced some adversity the past few weeks. But nothing Kourtney Shaw cannot handle.

Malia Martinez’s two-out RBI triple in the bottom of the seventh clinched Shaw’s second career postseason no-hitter, as the second-seeded Titans beat No. 7 Westview 1-0 Wednesday in the first round of the San Diego Section Open Division playoffs.

Martinez looped a shot down the right-field line and Gabriella Callaway, who singled with two outs, raced around the bases to give Poway the walk-off victory. It also ended the Titans’ playoff scoreless streak at 20 innings.

“We have been going through some things internally,” Poway coach Jim Bennet said. “We have had to play shorthanded a few games. We did today. But Kourtney was not going to let us lose.”

Shaw, a Cal-bound senior, was masterful in her first start of the postseason. She walked two hitters and faced just one over the minimum thanks to catcher Catherine Seitz gunning down a runner at second in the fourth inning.

Shaw put her defense to work, striking out just five in this one. The closest Westview got to getting a hit was Stacy Walden’s shallow pop fly to center field with two outs in the top of the seventh. But freshman Taylor Riley made a diving catch to save the no-hitter.

“I was able to establish the strike zone early and I just stuck with what was working,” said Shaw, who also scorched two singles at the plate in a rare start in the batting lineup. “I just wanted to go out there and let my infield and outfield make the plays.”

The Titans had seven two-out hits and did not score a single run until Martinez’s game winner in the seventh. Poway looked like it was going to take a 1-0 lead in the fifth inning on Colleen Sullivan’s single to center field. But Malia Martinez was thrown out at the plate by Westview’s Morgan Howe to end the inning.

“It’s always frustrating to have that many hits and not score,” said Martinez, who went 2-for-3. “But we know if we keep getting on base eventually we will get an error or a hit and a run will score.”

Poway advances to Saturday’s crucial second-round game against Cathedral Catholic, who beat Rancho Buena Vista in 13 innings 10-3 to advance. Poway hosts the game at 10 a.m.

The winner of that second-round game will be just one victory away from playing for the Open Division championship. The loser will have to battle through the losers bracket.

“It’s huge,” Bennet said. “To have to be beaten twice is big so that is going to be a big game on Saturday.”