RYAN SILAPAN
Prep2Prep Senior Editor

May 23, 2016

SAN JOSE — Holly Azevedo and the Pioneer High softball team find themselves in a rather unfamiliar spot heading into Tuesday’s Central Coast Section Division II semifinal game against Blossom Valley Athletic League-Mt. Hamilton Division foe Mt. Pleasant: they are facing a team that has actually beaten them this season.

Azevedo, who has a mind-boggling record of 53-4 in the circle the past two years, is looking forward to the rubber match against Mt. Pleasant and a possible match-up with Archbishop Mitty in the D-II title game for the third straight year.

Mt. Pleasant handed the Mustangs their first loss of the season back on March 22, when the Cardinals won 4-3 in eight innings in both teams’ BVAL-Mt. Hamilton opener.

“We know that they’ve beaten us before and that’s definitely in the back of our minds,” said Azevedo, a junior who gave a verbal commitment to UCLA last year. “We’re going to make sure we are prepared for them and attack them with everything we got.”

The top-seeded Mustangs will face No. 5 seed Mt. Pleasant on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. at PAL Stadium in San Jose.

This year Pioneer isn’t the offensive juggernaut it was last year, but behind Azevedo the Mustangs have found themselves at top of the Prep2Prep CCS Top 25 rankings almost the entire season.

Azevedo has given up only four earned runs this year — including two home runs — but it was always going to be difficult for her to improve upon last year’s 0.04 ERA.

Last year Azevedo only gave up a single earned run, but unfortunately for Pioneer, that single run proved to be the pivotal one in a 1-0 loss to Mitty in the D-II title game.

Pioneer had a lot of weight on its shoulders as the Mustangs were looking finish the year a perfect 30-0 and Azevedo had a chance of going an entire season without giving up an earned run.

“Lauryn Garcia said it earlier this year, it’s nice not having an undefeated streak,” senior shortstop Mackenzie Drake said. “We don’t have to worry about that and it’s a pressure releaser. I just think we have to come out with our all tomorrow and make as few of mistakes as possible.”

If the Mustangs can keep their mistakes to a minimum, they are a near shoo-in for a third straight CCS D-II title game appearance.

This year Azevedo has compiled 313 strikeouts in 177 innings pitched while walking only 16 batters.

No matter the outcome, the right-hander keeps a positive outlook.

“Each year has been different,” Azevedo said. “I always have good memories from each year. You have new players who bring different stuff to the team and I’m happy.”

Striking first and getting some early runs against Mt. Pleasant will make the junior hurler happy as well.

In Pioneer’s last matchup against Mt. Pleasant, the Mustangs had 17 hits to only three from the Cardinals but needed extra innings to get a 3-2 win in eight innings.

Mt. Pleasant scored two runs in the top of the seventh to force extra innings.

The Mustangs also needed extra innings to avoid a huge upset in Saturday's quarterfinal game. No. 8 seed Christopher pushed Pioneer to the brink before the Mustangs won 4-3 in eight innings.

Even with Azevedo, Pioneer coach Ernie Garcia constantly preaches to his team that they are going to get the opposing teams’ best shot every time.

“Everybody is going to rise up when they play us,” Garcia said. “Everybody is going to rise above to try and beat us and that’s what we (coaches) tell the players. If we rise above and go all out then we are unbeatable.”

Pioneer is a very young bunch this year that features only one senior in shortstop Drake.

“I’m excited to face Mt. Pleasant,” Pioneer second baseman Lauryn Garcia said. “It’s good competition and if we get past them it’s going to get us ready for either Mitty or Leigh. Both have been tough competition for us especially Mitty beating us two years in a row. We just want to get back in the championship game and finish how we’ve wanted to these past three years.”

At this point of the year against a familiar league opponent Ernie Garcia isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel.

“We can’t overextend our game plan,” he said. “We just need to focus on what we need to work on and stick with that.”

If Pioneer can get past its Mt. Hamilton Division foe there’s only one thing left to do — win a CCS D-II title.

Getting back to the title game is something the Mustangs have been eyeing since the first day of practice.

“This has been our goal since January and we are here,” Garcia said. “If we accomplish it we are in the finals. We can’t overlook Mt. Pleasant.”

After coming up short the past two years, Azevedo, who was named the Prep2Prep Female Athlete of the Year last year, isn’t looking past Mt. Pleasant and is planning to do everything in her power to get the Mustangs back in the D-II title game.

“I want a CCS title,” Azevedo said empathically. “Losing twice in the CCS Championship makes me want it even more this year. I don’t want another (loss) under my belt in the championship. We’ll be coming full force.

“I want to win.”

*****

Ryan Silapan can be reached at rsilapan@prep2prep.com and you can follow him on Twitter @RyanSilapan