In the semifinals of the North Bay League - Redwood playoff tournament, St. Vincent de Paul stomped Santa Rosa 19-0 in five innings with help from shutdown pitching and confidence at the plate to win their seventh game in a row.
“I wanted to see how the bats came out, and the girls came out swinging,” St. Vincent de Paul Head Coach Morgan Selmi said. “I feel like the girls are always two steps ahead, they played great.”
This was the fourth meeting between St. Vincent de Paul and Santa Rosa this season with the Mustangs winning all four contests.
The Panthers just couldn’t find a rhythm throughout the game. They committed a total of 11 errors and only recorded two hits offensively.
St. Vincent de Paul played with a willingness to win offensively. They recorded 16 hits and only struck out three times, posting an impressive .485 team batting average on the day.
As it has been all season, senior ace pitcher Sophia Skubic showed up and dominated the opposing batters. She only threw 54 pitches through five innings and allowed two hits while striking out nine batters. So far this season, she is 16-4 in the circle with an incredible 1.04 ERA. She has also struck out 153 batters in 128 innings pitched.
“As I always say, I trust my defense and I let them work,” Skubic said. “I do my best to do my job in the field so that we can hit as much as we can without having to worry about what’s going on with our defense.”
Senior Cori Marchant recorded the first hit of the game on the first pitch of the game, but the Panthers next three hitters were retired.
In the bottom of the first, two errors led to two runs scored for St. Vincent de Paul. Skubic reached third base due to an error then stole home on a wild pitch. Senior catcher Maddy Delamontanya ripped a ground rule double and later scored thanks to an error.
In the bottom of the second, four more errors were committed by Santa Rosa. Sophomore infielder Izzy Badaglia recorded a base hit that scored Skubic from second. Delamontanya roped an RBi single of her own to give St. Vincent de Paul a 4-0 lead. Two more errors led to two more runs being scored, and then freshman infielder Maddy Rynning recorded the third RBI single of the inning to bump the lead up to 7-0.
Skubic struck out the side in the top of the third. She had seven of her nine strikeouts through the first three innings.
The home team was still rolling in the bottom of the third. Sophomore outfielder Alicia Hartmann led off the inning with a base hit, then stole second to set up Skubic’s RBI single. Delamontanya roped a double to score Skubic, making her three for three at the plate through three innings. Junior outfielder Sofia Romano later grounded out but scored Delamontanya from third base, giving the Mustangs a powerful 10-0 lead.
The bottom of the fourth saw the offensive outburst continue. A plethora of runs were scored by St. Vincent de Paul. Junior outfielder Vanessa Rios came through with an RBI single early in the inning. Badaglia smoked a ball that was dropped, scoring Skubic from second.
Delamontanya was terrific at the plate for the Mustangs. She recorded her third double of the game which made her a four for four at the plate. She also currently holds a team leading .423 batting average.
Senior infielder Maddie Badaglia smoked an RBI double to give the Mustangs a dominating 15-0 lead. Freshman infielder Ileana Jimenez would later come through and record yet another St. Vincent de Paul RBI base hit. Maddie Badaglia scored due to an error, followed by Hartmann and Skubic recording back-to-back RBI singles, extending the lead to 19-0.
Skubic and Delamontanya both had incredible games for St. Vincent de Paul and earned high praise from their head coach.
“Skoobs (Skubic) is pretty much good at everything, whether that’s school or sports or anything else,” Selmi said. “She loves to work hard. Delamontanya is the same way. She’s very vocally great at being a leader, and she's a gamer all around."
Upcoming for St. Vincent de Paul, they will host Ukiah on Thursday for the NBL-Redwood tournament championship.
As for Santa Rosa, their season has come to an end. They finished their season 7-15 overall and 6-9 in NBL - Redwood play.
