Host and six seed Montgomery-Santa Rosa scored all four of its runs in the first inning and then held off a three-run rally by Las Lomas in the fifth to post a 4-3 opening round victory in the CIF NCS Division II playoffs.
Montgomery leadoff hitter Anna Zoia-Buescher singled and went to third on a two-base error that had Jenifer Warner on second. Sophomore Sierra Shanoff then singled them both home for the first two runs.
Freshman Olivia Gabriel then delivered a double that plated Shanoff and then she scored on an error to make it 4-0.
The hosts were coasting behind senior starting pitcher Jessica Valencia but when she
walked the first two batters to open the fifth inning, Montgomery coach Mike Malvino replaced her with Zoia-Buescher.
The Vikings sophomore, who pretty much shares time in the circle with Valencia, gave up RBI singles to Claire Sellick, Alissa Gardenal and Las Lomas freshman pitcher Mary Locher, but settled down to retire the next two batters and end the inning. From there, she didn’t give up a hit and struck out two in the sixth and one in the seventh that ended the game, giving her the save and Valencia the win.
“We kind of set it up before we started that we would have a short leash, but my senior still got the win,” Malvino remarked.
Locher took the loss for an 11 seed Las Lomas team that ends the season with a 14-10 overall record.
Montgomery now goes to neighboring Rancho Cotate-Rohnert Park for the quarterfinals to face a North Bay League rival they beat two out of three times during the regular season, including 8-1 last week in the league playoff title game.
“I don’t get it," Malvino said. "Yes, Rancho Cotate won the league but we beat them two out of three, including in playoffs none of us want to play, and we only get a six seed. It doesn’t make sense.”
Patriots shake pesky Yellowjackets for first-round win
Heritage scored runs in each inning from the third through the sixth, and junior Kat Hall struck out 10 batters, as the Patriots beat visiting Berkeley 6-2 in Wednesday's Division I first-round action.
With the game scoreless entering the bottom of the third inning, freshman Morgan Hess got Heritage going with her one-out bunt single towards third. Hess stole second, and then scored on junior Alyssa Kirk's two-out single to center. One batter later, sophomore Riley Ehlen tripled to give the Patriots a 2-0 advantage.
Hall kept the Yellowjackets' bats at bay all game long, allowing just four hits, and Heritage extended its lead in each of the next three innings. Reyna Alvarez tripled to score Kaitlynn Villanueva in the fourth inning, and both Ehlen and Tamia Lee had RBI singles in the bottom of the fifth.
Senior Maddy Silay completed the Patriots' scoring with her RBI triple in the bottom of the sixth inning, giving Heritage a 6-0 lead at that point.
"Today was a great challenge for us, facing a good left-handed pitcher (Robyn Wampler) who threw with good speed," said Heritage coach Ron Rivers. "This will help us as we move forward in NCS."
Heritage advances to the Division I quarterfinals, where it will host six seed San Ramon Valley. The Patriots have lost in the quarterfinals in each of the last four seasons.
"San Ramon has a really good pitcher (Riley Salvo) and a really good team around her," Rivers said. "We just need to keep playing together as a team and keep working hard for each other."
Big fourth-inning sparks Freedom win
Trailing 1-0 to visiting San Leandro in the bottom of the fourth inning, host Freedom exploded for seven runs, ultimately downing the Pirates 13-1 to advance to the Division I quarterfinals.
Bri Ibarra's bunt scored Marissa Gonzalez to tie the game with nobody out in the fourth, and Allyson McBroom gave the Falcons a lead they would never relinquish with her two-run double in the next at-bat. Faith Derby drove in McBroom a batter later for a 4-1 lead.
Allyson Ferreira added a two-run double, and Gonzalez drove in another run to complete the big inning. Freedom ended the game with a six-run sixth inning, capped by Derby's grand slam to complete the mercy rule finish.,
Freedom now travels to Castro Valley in the quarterfinals. The Trojans beat Freedom, 6-4, in last year's quarterfinals.
Heller, Shaw propel Castro Valley to victory
University of San Diego commit Delaney Heller allowed just one hit, to American junior Sierra Hillman, and Sacramento State commit Traci Shaw hit a grand slam as Castro Valley blew past American, 10-0, to reach the Division I quarterfinals.
The Trojans will host Freedom on Friday at 4 pm.
Other scores from Wednesday's games
Division I - #2 Foothill 7, #15 Dublin 0
Division II - #8 Concord 12, #9 Alameda 6
Division II - #4 Carondelet 10, #13 Mt. Eden 0
Division III - #5 Moreau Catholic 15, #12 De Anza 1
Division III - #7 Tamalpais 10, #10 Albany 5
Division IV - #8 Del Norte 6, #9 Justin-Siena 5
Division IV - #4 Saint Mary's 12, #13 Kelseyville 2
Division IV - #5 Berean Christian 6, #12 McKinleyville 5
Division IV - #7 Clear Lake 10, #10 Piedmont 0
*** Harold Abend contributed to the opening of this report, with his Montgomery game coverage. You can follow him on Twitter at @haroldabend
