LIVERMORE, CA – Neither rain that caused multiple changes in the schedule, nor gloomy skies, nor any of the top teams in Northern California was stopping the top NorCal top team from taking all the marbles after Sheldon-Sacramento was a 5-1 winner on Saturday afternoon over Foothill-Pleasanton in the title game of the 23rd Annual Livermore Stampede.
After a victory marbles have been a part of the postgame reward system of Sheldon Coach Mary Jo Truesdale for over 20-years.
“I wanted to reward the girls so I started passing out marbles after a win,” Truesdale said. “Plus, the saying ‘taking all the marbles’ has been around for years.”
When Truesdale passed out the marbles at the end of the win over Foothill the biggest one of all went to Stampede MVP and Delaware State-bound senior pitcher Taliyah Miles.
Against a young and aggressive hitting Foothill team Miles gave up five hits (all singles), she struck out four and walked one. The key to Miles success during the entire Stampede was even when she had batters on base, like the four straight innings in Sheldon’s 7-1 victory over Heritage-Brentwood on Friday night, she knuckled down and continued to throw strikes and let her fielders make plays.
Another part of the reason Miles was the tourney’s best player was not only did she get it done in the circle but at the plate she was a terror as well. Against Foothill she didn’t yank one out like she did against Heritage, but Miles was 2-for-2 with an RBI double, a sacrifice fly that drove in a run, and her Dominican University-committed courtesy runner Vanessa Porto scored a run.
The other big bat for Sheldon was Charleston Southern (Carolina) commit Sarah Brown. The senior was 3-for-3 with an RBI and run scored. San Diego State-committed junior Maddi Ayers had two singles and scored twice, and freshman Kiannah Pierce had an RBI single.
Miles may have been the MVP in this tournament, and two D1 committed players shined in the Foothill win, but in this group there is no real superstar like in past Sheldon top teams. What they do have is a whole ton of talent that includes seven players moving on to mostly D1 colleges.
“There are so many kids that contribute on this team,” Truesdale remarked. “That’s what makes it such a special group. “They feed off each other and take care of each other, and their defense is solid.”
Foothill (12-2) had runners on base early against Miles they just couldn’t quite get it done.
After falling behind 1-0 in the second inning Foothill tied the game in the top of the third on a sacrifice fly by Oklahoma-bound freshman pitching and hitting sensation Nicole May that drove in sophomore Hope Alley, but from there on Miles got out of a two on not out situation in the top of the fourth, and then proceeded to retire 12 of the next 13 batters.
With the victory defending CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division I champion Sheldon has now won three Livermore Stampede titles. The first came with former Cal star and current pro Jolene Henderson in 2008 over Archbishop Mitty. Then, with Jolene’s little sister Danielle Henderson they won in 2010 over Mitty again
Last year as one of the favorites Sheldon was into the Championship Flight with a chance for this group to win but the semis and finals were wiped out by rain.
“It feels really good after getting rained out last year and then having to deal with the rain and all the changes this year,” Miles said. “We came back and finished what we started last year.”
It was somewhat befitting that what the rains and all the changes in schedule Sheldon had to endure would actually have a silver lining for Truesdale.
Sheldon chose to stay locally and more than once a call came in from Tournament Director Michelle Bennett that a time was changed or that the game had been moved to Del Valle High down the street from Robertson Park, the home of the Stampede. That can be unsettling for a group of teenage girls chomping at the bit to play and with nothing else to do. Though it all the steady hand of Trousdale kept the girls focused.
Because it poured Friday night Robertson’s two fields were unplayable so the semifinals and final were changed from noon and 8 pm at Robertson to 3 pm and 5 pm at the Del Valle facility that has no lights.
Then, on Saturday morning Bennett received a call from Sheldon’s semifinal opponent St. Mary’s-Stockton. Because their semifinal win over Castro Valley did not end until after 11 pm and the girls didn’t get home until late, the grind of the Stampede had left the squad too fatigued and the Rams forfeited.
That meant Sheldon was short a game in the 5-game event, and while there was no guarantee the Cal-Hi Sports No. 9 ranked Huskies would have beaten St. Mary’s, what the forfeit did set up was the ability for one of the greatest and most affable coaches in Northern California softball history to achieve a milestone.
When Miles recorded the final out in the top of the seventh, the 2007 Cal-Hi Sports State Coach of the Year recorded win No. 700 overall and No. 587 in California in a career that started in the 1970’s in Michigan, had a stop in Elk Grove from 1992-94 when Truesdale decided to come west, and then since 1995 at the helm of the Huskies.
“It’s hard to believe, 700 wins,” Truesdale remarked.
“I love the game and giving back like people that gave to me,” said Truesdale about what keeps her going. “I think it’s important to do something with your life and this is something I can do.”
Bright side for Foothill…and Freedom too
The semifinal rematch of the 2016 CIF North Coast Section Division I title game won by Freedom over Foothill was one to remember, and maybe not remember.
This time it was Foothill coming out in top 1-0 in an 8-inning affair.
May was perfect into the top of the seventh inning, and after getting an out to retire the first 19 batters, she gave up a single that went just under the glove of the second baseman. May retired the next two batters but Foothill was almost as frustrated against Freedom junior ace Vanessa Strong as Freedom was against May.
The game went to international rules but while Freedom got Kalissa Heihn to third on a sacrifice bunt by Strong, May retired the next two batters.
Foothill Coach Matt Sweeney inserted senior Nicole Craven as the runner at second and when Strong slipped in the less than dry conditions around the rubber but didn’t throw a pitch to Hope Alley, the umpire ruled an illegal pitch moving Craven to third. Alley proceeded to bunt the ball past the outstretched glove of Strong while Craven was streaking home on the squeeze.
May gave up the one hit, had nine strikeouts, and retired 24 of the 25 batters she faced.
Strong only gave up four hits with five strikeouts and a walk. It was a tough loss for Freedom and Strong, but the good news is they played solid and look good going back into BVAL action.
To no one’s surprise Sweeney elected to not pitch May in the title game with only 25-minutes of rest between games and the grind of the Stampede that was complicated but the rain and schedule changes. He had hinted at what he might do on Friday night after a 5-0 win over Whitney-Rocklin.
“This is a great tournament and the competition is off the charts, but for me it’s about league (EBAL), and this is a great opportunity for us to get prepared for league,” Sweeney said. “We’re in a tough spot now at 2-1 and with Amador Valley on Tuesday.”
Instead, Sweeney played May at first base against Sheldon pitched senior Karen Didio, and she pitched pretty well against the powerhouse Sheldon lineup.
Sweeney’s actions on Saturday validated what he said on Friday. Beating Freedom established a head-to-head win and that is one of the main criteria the CIFNCS uses in its playoff seedings.
Still, it would have been great to see what May would have done against Sheldon.
“I know,” was Sweeney’s response in a text on Saturday night about seeing May against Sheldon. “But we have Amador on Tuesday and I couldn’t throw her four games in two days as much as I wanted to and she wanted to.”
The Nicole May show will continue on Tuesday at home when the first meeting between her and Missouri-bound Amador Valley junior ace Danielle Williams takes place.
