SAN FRANCISCO (Map, News) - Lowell ended Washington’s string of five straight San Francisco Section softball championships Wednesday, scoring twice in the seventh inning for a 13-12 victory.

Samia Zuber’s walkoff RBI single sends the Cardinals (17-2) into Friday’s 3:30 p.m. section championship game against Lincoln at Lang Field. Washington, which had foreseen a rebuilding year after graduating seven starters in 2006, finishes its season with a record of 15-5.

Zuber’s single put the finishing touch on a rally that saw the Cardinals come back from six runs down, following a seven-run Washington fifth inning. All of the runs came off Lowell reliever Alina Werth, who had replaced starting pitcher Zuber.

“[Samia] was getting tired,” Lowell coach Sascha Ray said. “I just had a feeling and went for it.”

Fortunately, Werth settled down, shutting out the Eagles in the sixth and seventh innings, giving Lincoln a chance to play catchup. Lowell did exactly that, pushing five runs across the plate in the fifth and sixth combined, setting the stage for the bottom of the seventh.

Enter Lowell senior catcher Sati Houston, who led off the inning a home run short of a cycle.

“[Sati] comes up big every time,” Ray said.

This time, she took an Amanda Yee deep to center field, completing her cycle and tying the score.

“She’s absolutely taken the lead,” Ray added. “She’s the leader of this team.”

Yee then hit Rubye Chu with a pitch. Chu stole second and went to third on a wild pitch. Zuber then took Yee’s first pitch and deposited it into left field, ending the game and Washington’s season.

“We’ve always had a big rivalry with Washington,” Ray said during the postgame celebration.

After five seasons of playing in the Eagles’ shadow, she says, “[We’re] just glad to have that monkey off our backs.”

Lowell 13, Washington 12