With fourth-seeded South Fork-Miranda blowing out No. 2 Geyserville 22-5 on Tuesday in the CIF North Coast Section Division VI title game, five more titles will be decided on Friday and Saturday with Division V being contested at top-seeded Cloverdale on Friday and Division VI at St. Mary’s College. On Saturday, Division I and II will be at Diablo Valley College while Division III will be under the lights at San Marin. We will preview the three top divisions, where Prep2Prep will be covering on Saturday.
DIVISION I
No. 3 seed Foothill (24-3) vs No. 4 seed Amador Valley (22-5-1), Saturday, 12 noon at Diablo Valley College
Just like in the North Coast Section baseball playoffs, the softball title game in the Division I championships comes down to an all East Bay Athletic League match-up as the two top-ranked Prep2Prep Northern California ranked Foothill and Amador Valley teams square off for the fourth time this season.
This game is a prime example of where seedings and rankings differ so much, particularly in the NCS, which unlike the CIF Southern Section, has no subjectivity in its seeding criteria.
The result was the pecking order for Division I was set when Freedom beat Foothill 8-7 in the two-week delayed championship game of the Livermore Stampede.
After pitching two weeks earlier at the Stampede in Pool play, Oklahoma-bound sophomore Nicole May was held out by Coach Matt Sweeney because she was experiencing soreness in her forearm and while the wily veteran certainly wanted to win the Stampede, its the NCS title that gets him warm and fuzzy. Plus, the coach nor May wanted to risk further injury.
Since May has returned the Falcons have been flying high, and since a 4-2 win over Carondelet in the EBAL semifinals no one has scored against May in an 8-0 EBAL title game victory over Amador Valley that got Sweeney and his girls to 2-1 against the Dons this season, and then a 4-0 win over California in the opening round of the D1 playoffs and then a 2-0 win at second-seeded Heritage on Wednesday.
The hitting was a little light against Heritage and its ace Delia Scott, but if May is on it only takes a run or two to win, just like the 1-0 victory over Amador Valley earlier this season.
If May is dealing and the Falcons are hitting, and in particular cleanup hitter Courtney Beaudin, are on like in their EBAL title-game victory over Amador Valley, it could be lights out on Saturday at DVC for the fourth-seeded Dons.
Northwestern-bound Dons ace Danielle Williams has proven she can match May when she outdueled her in a 1-0 win on April 10 when they both had 13 strikeouts, but Williams only gave up two hits while Amador Valley got five hits including two for extra bases, but still only managed to scratch out one run.
Williams tossed a two-hitter in a 5-0 win over a solid Castro Valley to open the playoffs and duplicated that effort in a 3-0 victory at Freedom on Wednesday, where she also hit a home run. Freshman Mia Hildebrand has continued to get key hits, just like her RBI single in the bottom of the sixth in the 1-0 win over Foothill in April.
A suicide squeeze decided the 1-0 Foothill win at home on May 10, and it may come down to something like that again to decide the title between these two arch rivals.
DIVISION II
No. 4 Carondelet (19-8) vs No. 6 Bishop O’Dowd (17-5), Saturday, 2:30 p.m. at Diablo Valley College
In our playoff predictions we had top-seeded San Marin as the projected winner, but Livermore ended that run, however the teams that have made it are not a total surprise.
In the “sleeper” section we liked both Carondelet and O’Dowd as potential threats to San Marin and now they’re facing each other.
We liked the bats of the Hammoude sisters, and they certainly came alive in an 8-0 drubbing of host and No. 2 seed Concord on Wednesday.
Oregon State-bound senior Frankie Hammoude gave junior pitcher Elizabeth Avery some breathing room when she blasted a grand slam in the top of the seventh to turn a 2-0 lead to 6-0. Sophomore Jayla Dailey closed out the scoring with a two-run home run and she and Frankie Hammoude ended up accounting for all eight runs driven in with four each. Junior Nicole Hammoude had two hits and scored a run as the Dragons banged out 10 hits against Concord ace Madelyn Mays.
Avery pitched a gem and seems to be getting better every game. She only gave up two hits and three walks against Concord while fanning 14 batters. Avery has taken some lumps this season, but it was against teams like Foothill, and two losses to Castro Valley, plus Berkeley and Alameda, but in those games she only gave up one earned run. She’s 17-5 with a 0.83 ERA and that is not too shabby. Plus, along with the Hammoude sisters she is one of three Dragons batting over .500.
Carondelet has a 3-2 eight-inning win over Foothill but it was not against Nicole May. Since losing 4-2 to Foothill against May in the EBAL semifinals, St. Mary’s-bound Carondelet pitcher Sofia Earle has only given up one run, and that was in a 5-1 victory over Livermore, where she also had a one-hitter with 10 strikeouts.
Earle took a 1-0 loss to CCS Open champion St. Francis, but she only gave up three hits and no walks with 13 strikeouts. Sophomore Gabriella Williams has had a hot bat all season and also has a 9-2 record as a pitcher to go with a team-leading .537 average and 10 home runs.
This game could be a slugfest if both teams hit like they can, or it could be a pitcher’s duel, or maybe a combination of both but despite the seeding, it looks like the two best all-around teams in D2 are vying for the title.
DIVISION III
No. 1 Marin Catholic (21-5) vs No. 2 Moreau Catholic (14-10), Saturday at 7:00 p.m. at San Marin High
There will be a game at San Marin on Saturday, but it won’t be the hosts in the D2 title game but rather a D3 top-seeded Marin Catholic team that lost twice to San Marin this season.
The Wildcats other losses are to Presentation-San Jose, Petaluma and Redwood, so they have been solid all season.
Marin Catholic coach Dave Albini has a young team with only three seniors on an 18-girl roster. Junior Julia Scardina, a three-year varsity starter, leads the team in every statistical category except triples. She is batting .575 with eight home runs, 16 doubles, 35 RBI and 36 runs scored. Senior leadership and some solid hitting are provided by Izzy Incaviglia.
Albini has a new pitcher in freshman Annabel Teperson. Not only has she got it done in the circle but is one of the team’s better hitters. She has pitched in every game except one and has a 20-5 record with a 1.30 ERA. Teperson is also hitting .346 with a home run and 20 RBI. In the 7-0 semifinal win over Sonoma Valley on Tuesday, Teperson pitched a complete game two-hit shutout with 13 strikeouts.
Teperson has seen some good hitting this season, but don’t underestimate Moreau Catholic despite their 10 losses. The Mariners went 9-5 in the large school Mission Valley Athletic League and that is pretty solid.
Along the way they took some lumps, including a rough outing at the Livermore Stampede, but they also got a 4-3 victory over James Logan, and just that win makes them legitimate at this Division III level.
Coach Christine Krisman has two senior pitchers that have shared the circle, Haley Santa Cruz and Gabriella Franco, with Santa Cruz getting most of the work. Both have given up some runs, but Moreau has played a much tougher schedule than Marin Catholic.
The Mariners can hit the ball and if they can figure out Teperson, this could be an interesting match-up. The top hitter is Janessa Khamseh. The junior infielder leads the team in all statistical categories except triples, hitting .494 with five home runs, 11 doubles, 34 RBI and 25 runs scored.
Santa Cruz can also hit and some other girls to look for out of quite a few hitters with bat in hand are senior Arielle Acosta and junior Gabrielle Perez.
