The De Anza Lady Dons crushed the Foothill Owls on Thursday, April 12, with an 18-1 win in late season softball action. After fairly even play throughout the first inning, De Anza brought in a shocking 11 runs at the top of the second, then kept their opponents scoreless until the bottom of the fourth. The Owls, suffering from erratic pitching and torpid field play, struggled fruitlessly to mount a comeback, but in accordance with official rules, the game was called after five innings due to the lopsided score. “In a game like this, you try not to pile too much on,” said De Anza coach Dennis Pennel after the game. Pennel added that some members of the team were playing out of position in order to improve their skills, and that the pitching was mostly called by the players themselves. He cited pitcher Meghan Keefhaver, who recently returned after two months away due to an early-season head injury, and centerfielder Lauren Esteban as the outstanding players of the day. Esteban scored three runs, and Keefhaver’s pitching was instrumental to De Anza’s win – during the first two innings the Owls couldn’t get a single runner on base. Foothill’s softball program, in it’s first year back after a long absence from that college’s athletic department, has often played the whipping boy this year in the Coast North Division, compiling a record of 0-16 in conference and 1-23 overall. De Anza is expected to finish third in its division this season, below San Mateo and Ohlone Colleges, and is currently a respectable 12-7 in conference and 17-even overall. The Lady Dons’ next game will be this Tuesday, April 24th, against Chabot at De Anza.