Evans’ Hoover Career Ends on a Sour Note : High school softball: Tornadoes make three errors behind her in seventh, absorb 2-0 first-round playoff loss.

High school softball is now just a memory for Hoover High ace Nancy Evans.

Bishop Amat managed only two hits off the Arizona-bound senior, but the Lancers capitalized on three Tornado errors in the seventh inning for a 2-0 victory in a first-round Southern Section Division II playoff game Friday at Hoover.

“I wanna die,” Hoover Coach Kirt Kohlmeier said.

“I don’t think I’ve ever felt more pain than I feel right now . . . especially for Nancy--for all the seniors. This is a hard one to take.

“If I could do anything to take that inning back, I would.”

For Evans (23-2), Division 4-A co-player of the year last season, it was a premature ending to an outstanding high school run that included 78 victories and a section-best 14 perfect games. Hoover did not advance past a quarterfinal playoff round in Evans’ four seasons.

She hoped however, that this year would be different.

“This was the last high school game of my life and it’s not exactly the way I wanted it to end,” Evans said tearfully. “I wanted to finish high school with a bang.”

Instead, the bang Evans will probably remember best is that of Hoover shooting itself in the foot.

With the game scoreless in the seventh, Kim Gil of Bishop Amat (21-6-1) reached first on a throwing error. Gil advanced to second on a wild pitch, before Evans struck out Dawn Castaneda.

Chrissy Gil followed with a ground ball that slipped by third baseman Tracy Christiansen. Shortstop Shannon Feliz, backing up Christiansen, grabbed the dribbler and quickly flipped it to Christiansen in an attempt to get Gil at third.

Feliz’s throw, however, was way off line and the ball ended up bouncing out of play near the Hoover dugout. Kim Gil was allowed to score, while Chrissy Gil was awarded third base.

Natalie Kirkbride ripped the next pitch down the left-field line, scoring Chrissy Gil for a 2-0 lead.

Hoover’s defense didn’t have much to do before the seventh. Evans, who had 13 strikeouts, faced the minimum of 18 batters over the first six innings.

She gave up a single in the fourth inning to Castaneda, who was forced out at second on Chrissy Gil’s fielder’s choice grounder. Chrissy Gil was called out for leaving first early on an attempted steal.

“We knew coming in it would be a one-run type ballgame,” Bishop Amat Coach Jeff Weber said.

“The key was the mistakes. If they don’t see any action for six innings and then suddenly get a ball, it’s real easy to make a mistake and that’s what happened in the last inning.”

Hoover (23-2-1), the Pacific League champion and the division’s third-seeded team, managed only three hits off junior right-hander Kristina Chavez (11-3). Three of Hoover’s seven baserunners were thrown out by Kirkbride, the catcher.