BELMONT, CA - They cheered throughout the entire game, their team spirit held strong, and the girls never lowered their heads once. The Notre Dame-Belmont Tigers came out victorious with a 4-1 victory Thursday afternoon against the visiting Pacific Grove Breakers in a first-round CCS Division III playoff game.
The Tigers improved to 16-11 overall and will face Half Moon Bay Saturday in the quarterfinals. The Breakers finished their season at 12-14.
With two runners on and one out on the board in the bottom of the first inning, Sofia Reyes hit a solid RBI double to center field, bringing in Marina Sylvestri and Danica Kazakoff to start the game off for the Tigers.
"Our offense came through," said Kazakoff. "We connected the hits more, and [we had] more focus on getting one base at a time."
The Breakers responded with a run in the top of the third inning. Reeve Grobecker led off the inning with a bunt. With two outs and a runner on second, Grobecker was brought in on an RBI grounder to shortstop by Abby Burnell, advancing the score to 2-1.
"The pitcher for Notre Dame [Lindsey Mifsud] pitched very well," said Pacific Grove head coach Sal Lucido. "We never made adjustments, and she [improved a lot] since last year."
Sylvestri got the Tigers going in the fourth inning with a push bunt to the pitcher, advancing Jennifer Donohue to second. Kazakoff followed up with an RBI bunt to third base, scoring Donohue. With no outs and two runners on, Sofia Magnani hit an RBI solid grounder to second base, scoring Sylvestri and advancing the score to 4-1.
The Breakers fought hard but were unable to reduce the deficit. After a strikeout by Mifsud, Kazakoff caught a pop up and got the double play at first, bringing the Breakers back into the field.
"The girls came out to play," said Notre Dame head coach Tara Van Meter. "Their defense was solid and I saw some great hustle [on the field]."
The Tigers attempted to get some more runs on the board, but were stopped short in the sixth inning after a line drive to first base by Mifsud, who made the catch and got the double play to end the inning.
"Our offense and defense worked really well together," said Mifsud. "We've really bonded, and we're a really close team."
The Tigers will continue on in CCS, and will face Half Moon Bay (10-4 league, 20-7 overall) on Saturday, May 24 at 12 p.m at Hawes Field in Redwood City.
"We're a very improved team, and we came a long ways," said Lucido. "It was a good, competitive game, and I wish [Notre Dame] the best of luck [in their next game]."
