BY MATT JOCKS
HEMET — Taylor Van Zee and Cheyenne Gandara provide Hemet High’s softball program with one of the Inland area’s best 1-2 punches. Those punches, however, don’t usually come this quickly. Blasting home runs on the first two pitches of the fourth inning, Van Zee and Gandara shook Hemet’s offense out of the doldrums Thursday on the way to a 7-1 victory over Ventura Buena in a Division 4 quarterfinal. Hemet (25-5) will host Jurupa Valley Patriot, a 13-4 winner over Hesperia Oak Hills, in Tuesday’s semfinal. “Those are two great softball players,” Hemet coach Jeff Galloway said. “Without them, we’d be very hardpressed to be where we are.” In the first time through the lineup, Hemet struggled to get a handle on Buena pitcher Anneliese Lopez’s effective changeup. Galloway said he tried to let his hitters know how Lopez was tipping the pitch, but the tip was easier to see from the dugout and coaching box than home plate. The alternative was to sit on the pitch. Sit and then pounce. Van Zee deposited the first pitch of the inning over the left-center field fence. With the dugout and bleachers still buzzing, Gandara hammered the next pitch off the wall of a classroom beyond the right-field fence. “I was expecting the change because she was throwing it all day,” Van Zee said. “It just takes a little time to get used to.” Said Gandara: “We haven’t really seen a lot of pitchers like that. I just really focused on trying to stay on top of the ball.” In the pitcher’s circle, Gandara struggled a little with her control in the early innings. Once she had the 2-0 lead, however, she settled into a groove, needing only 17 pitches to work through the fifth and sixth innings before allowing an unearned run in the seventh. Gandara finished with a three-hitter, striking out eight and walking two. “I think we had some nerves,” Galloway said. “This is only the second time we’ve gotten to the quarters. And we really want to get to the finals. We had a half-day of school, and I don’t like it any time we get out of our normal routine. “But all year, Cheyenne has been mentally tough. She gets tougher as the game goes on.” Hemet got plenty of help in blowing the game open in the sixth, capitalizing on three errors and two wild pitches in a five-run inning. Gandara, Ivy Campbell and Jade Gandara delivered run-scoring singles. Van Zee also made a big play on defense, fielding an errant return throw from catcher Avea Gaono to Gandara and throwing Brittany Perez out at the plate when the game was scoreless.