Battery sparks Poway's softball win over rival Rancho Bernardo

Poway High School pitcher Mya McGowan and catcher Sophia Burmeister have been friends seemingly forever.

“Since second grade,” said Burmeister.

“I think it was first grade,” offered McGowan.

They played rec league softball together, and on all-star and travel teams. As sophomores last year they earned All-CIF honors while leading Poway to the CIF San Diego Section Open Division title, then the Southern California Regional championship.

Said Poway coach Jim Bennet: “They’re joined at the hip.”

On a cool, overcast Tuesday afternoon, the stars came out again, leading Poway to a come-from-behind 5-2 road win against rival Rancho Bernardo.

Burmeister crushed a no-doubter two-run homer and had an RBI single. She’s now batting .459 with seven home runs and 22 RBIs, all tops on the section’s No. 2-ranked team. McGowan pitched a complete game, allowing two earned runs on five hits, striking out five, plus knocked in a run.

McGowan’s record: 10-2 with a 1.33 ERA.

With its sixth win in the last seven games, Poway improved to 15-4-1. The Titans sit atop the Palomar League at 4-0. Seventh-ranked RB fell to 13-6-1, 3-2 in league.

The win, though, was not easy.

Said RB coach Summer Boyle: “I think we had Jim sweating.”

The game was scoreless until the bottom of the fifth, when RB pushed across a run on a double by sophomore pitcher Zoey Meadows, a sacrifice bunt then an RBI double by Ellery Housand.

Until the top of the sixth, Meadows had limited Poway to one hit. But sophomore Alyssa Menges led off the sixth with a sharp single to right field. Two batters later, Burmeister launched an inside fastball over the left-field wall.

As soon as the ball was hit, Burmeister broke into a slow trot down the first-base line.

With a shy smile, Burmeister said, “I kind of knew it was out.”

Senior Ryleigh Rinker knocked in the third run with a pinch-hit double.

Mia Cascio’s solo homer in the sixth pulled RB to within 3-2. But Poway’s stars went to work again in the seventh, McGowan and Burmeister knocking in insurance runs.

Because they spend so much time practicing together, pitchers and catchers tend to be tight. The McGowan-Burmeister bond is strengthened by their history. They share some classes and hang out away from the diamond.

“I know what pitch she wants to throw,” said Burmeister, who has committed to Clemson.

“I think we understand each other pretty well,” said McGowan, a Cal commit.

McGowan did some of her best work in the first inning. Housand, who’s batting .500, led off with a single. McGowan hit the next two batters to load the bases.

“Stay calm and keep focused,” McGowan said of her mindset with the bases jammed and no one out.

She struck out the next two batters, then ended the inning on a soft ground ball.

“She’s unflappable,” said Bennet. “A lot of pitchers would get flustered and give up a couple hits. When she gets behind the eight ball, she bears down and finishes the job.”

Norcross is a freelance writer.

This story originally appeared in San Diego Union-Tribune .