Winners on the field, the Poway High School softball team is now reaping the rewards of a Southern California Division 1 Championship.
Using a fastball that hits 67-68 mph with spin, McGowan struck out 125 batters in 131 1/3 innings. She had seven shutouts, including Oaks Christian, which set a state record with 68 home runs.A starter on the Poway girls basketball team that was 24-5, the 5-foot-10 McGowan missed the first 3 ½ weeks of the softball season after averaging 9.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game on the hardwood.
Poway coach Jim Bennet is the eight San Diego Section coach since 1974 to be named state Coach of the Year.Previous San Diego Section winners include Mike Centrullo , Margaret Mauro , Brad Griffin , Nancy Acerrio , Jeff Carlovsky , Carol Hamilton and Janet Balsley . • Poway , the Southern California Division 1 softball champions, finished No. 7 in the state in the final MaxPreps.com rankings. Hollister , the Northern California Division 1 champion, was No. 1. Norco was No. 2, followed by Mountain View St. Francis , Los Alamitos , Orange Lutheran and Murrieta Mesa . Rancho Bernardo finished No. 16 and El Capitan was No. 50.