REDWOOD CITY, CA - An afternoon of errors for the Notre Dame-Belmont softball team led to a sweet 8-3 victory for Half Moon Bay Cougars in the CCS quarterfinals.
The Cougars now advance to the semifinals where they will meet Santa Catalina at 7 p.m. Wednesday at PAL Stadium.
Half Moon Bay immediately established control, scoring three first-inning runs. Emma Alaimo led off for the Cougars with a slap hit to third base, followed up with a grounder to second by Abbey Donovan. Harley Donovan continued the momentum with a single down the third base line, bringing in Alaimo for the first run of the game.
"We came out from the start hitting, and we just kept the momentum going," said the Cougars' Ally Sarabia.
A dropped third strike brought in Abbey Donovan, and a sacrifice fly ball to left field by Sarabia scored Donovan to make it 3-0.
The Tigers rebounded in the the third inning. With two outs and two runners on, Sofia Magnani hit a solid grounder up the middle to bring in Jennifer Donohue from second base.
"We were a little too late with the bats," said Magnani. "We got timely hits, but not enough of them."
Keeping their spirit high on defense, the Tigers' Danica Kazakoff made two diving catches to close HMB out in the third inning.
The Tigers continued to put runs on the board in the fifth inning. Marina Sylvestri hit a line drive to right center field for a hit, followed by a sacrifice bunt down the third base line by Kazakoff. Magnani hit a single to left field to bring in Sylvestri, and managed to advance to third on Tiger misplays. Sofia Reyes continued the momentum with a solid hit up the middle, bringing in Magnani for the Tigers' third run.
The Tigers simply could not keep pace with the Cougars. HMB's Angela Brazil led off with a base hit to right field and went to second on an error. Sarabia continued with a solid double to the left field fence, bringing in Brazil. Olivia Hedding kept things going with a sacrifice bunt, scoring Sarabia on a Tiger error at first base.
"I think [our team] did really well," said Half Moon Bay coach Deanna Tower. "They kept their composure even when we were only up by [one] run, and they answered back [with more hits]."
Morgan Jones was rewarded second base after an error on a drop third strike, bringing in Hedding. Alaimo hit a sacrifice fly to center field to bring in Jones for the eighth and final run of the game.
Although the Tigers are bummed about being out of the CCS playoffs, they kept their heads high about their season overall.
"We improved a lot since last year," said Magnani. "We hit a lot better, Lindsey [Mifsud]'s pitching got a lot better, and I think we will do a lot better next year."
