Golden Valley star hits 4th homer 4 games. Cougars ready for showdown with Atwater.

Marissa Bertuccio continued her hot bat and the Golden Valley softball team won their 12th consecutive game with an 8-0 win over El Capitan at El Capitan High on Monday afternoon.

Bertuccio hit her fourth home run in her last four games and also pitched a one-hit shutout. The Sacramento State-bound senior struck out 14 batters.

Vanessa Saltos added two hits and three RBIs. Bertuccio and freshman Naomi Moore both had two hits.

The Cougars (14-1, 6-0 Central California Conference) will host Atwater (10-3, 4-0 CCC) on Wednesday afternoon at 4 p.m. on a battle of CCC unbeaten teams.

The matchup will see two future Division I pitchers square off in Bertuccio and Atwater’s Megan Escobar, who is headed to UC Santa Barbara.

Bertuccio is 14-1 with a 0.38 ERA this year. Escobar is 6-0 with a 0.92 ERA this season.

Ripon Christian 8, Le Grand 0 in Le Grand — The Bulldogs dropped to 5-2 in the Southern League with a shutout loss at home. Alexia Aguallo and Angie Belmontes both picked up hits for Le Grand.

Ariel Vander Woude drove in three runs for the Knights. Elizabeth Thomas went 4 for 4 and Madison DeGraaf pitched a three-hit shutout for Ripon Christian (11-3, 7-1 SL).