It’s a Golden Matchup in Final

LANCASTER — The High Desert softball tournament provided a golden opportunity for Highland High and Quartz Hill to strut their stuff.

The Golden League rivals did just that on Saturday.

Quartz Hill routed Arcadia, 9-0, and Highland beat league rival Palmdale, 10-0, in the upper-division semifinals at Lancaster City Park, and will face each other Monday night for the title.

Quartz Hill (9-2-1), which has outscored its opponents, 24-0, received another strong pitching performance from left-hander Jodie Cox (8-2).

Cox struck out 10, allowed two hits and hit a home run against Arcadia (10-3).

Teammate Amber Slaton had three hits and three runs batted in.

Highland (11-1), ranked No. 3 in the region by The Times, got three hits from Natalie Rawson and two each from Jennifer Smith and Katie Gonzalez.

Highland has outscored three tournament opponents, 33-2.

In other tournament games:

Crescenta Valley 3, Glendale 0--Melinda Moulden had three hits and Meredith Cervenka (6-1) struck out eight for Crescenta Valley (8-4) in a fifth-place semifinal.

Alemany 3, Louisville 2--Alemany’s runs were unearned in a fifth-place semifinal.

Arcadia 1, Alemany 0--Jennifer Newton’s single to center scored Kim Clements with one out in the bottom of the eighth inning in an upper-division quarterfinal.

Quartz Hill 12, Louisville 0--Cox struck out nine and had three hits for Quartz Hill in an upper-division quarterfinal called after five innings because of the 10-run rule.

Teammate Penny Wood had three hits and Slaton had a double and a home run.

Palmdale 2, Crescenta Valley 0--The Falcons scored two unearned runs off Moulden (2-3) in the fourth inning in an upper-division quarterfinal.

Palmdale’s Mikki Goldwater (7-1) struck out three and allowed two hits.

Highland 12, Glendale 2--Melissa Rawson had three hits and three RBIs, and Jennifer Durost had two hits and five RBIs in an upper-division game called after five innings because of the 10-run rule. Nicole Rawson (4-0) allowed four hits.

Burbank Burroughs 3, Kennedy 1--The Indians (9-3) rallied for three runs in the seventh inning in a lower-division semifinal.

Patty Del Real had two hits, including a triple, for Kennedy (11-3) and scored on Christina Garcia’s single in the fourth inning.

Del Real (8-3) allowed seven hits in three innings of relief.

Kennedy 7, Silverado 2--Del Real had three hits and three RBIs in a lower-division quarterfinal.

Burbank Burroughs 7, Verdugo Hills 6--Chantel Jimenez scored on a throwing error in the bottom of the fifth inning to break a 6-6 tie in a lower-division quarterfinal.

Olivia Sullivan had a two-run home run for Burroughs (8-3).

Paraclete 1, Harvard-Westlake 0--Jackie Kolesar scored on an error in the bottom of the eighth inning in an upper-division ninth-place quarterfinal.

Paraclete 8, Ridgecrest Burroughs 1--Marlena Aguirre had two hits, including a home run, and three RBIs for Paraclete (4-4-2) in an upper-division ninth-place semifinal.

Valencia 5, Apple Valley 4--Jennifer Harling squeezed home Nicole Giampaolo with the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning for the Vikings (9-3) in an upper-division ninth-place semifinal.

Valencia 4, Boron 1--Lauren Watson and Kim Mutaw each had a double and an RBI for the Vikings (8-3) in an upper-division ninth-place quarterfinal.

Antelope Valley 3, Bishop 1--Dana LaRocco’s two-run double in the first inning was enough for Antelope Valley (2-7) in a lower-division consolation game.

Antelope Valley 5, Canyon 4--Kelly Bleyl doubled, tripled and scored twice for Antelope Valley (1-7) in a lower-division consolation game.

Paraclete 1, Harvard-Westlake 0--Jackie Kolesar scored on an error in the eighth inning in an international tiebreaker in an upper-division consolation game.

Harvard-Westlake 12, Victor Valley 1--Anna Russell pitched a two-hitter and had three hits and three RBIs for Harvard-Westlake (6-4) in an upper-division consolation game called after five innings because of the 10-run rule.