SAN JOSE — Holly Azevedo has made it clear that she’s been out to prove a point in the Central Coast Section Division II playoffs.
The Pioneer High junior right-handed pitcher and UCLA verbal commit says that after back-to-back years of losing in the championship game she’s had enough.
“I’m not losing CCS again,” Azevedo said.
For the third straight year, Azevedo has led the Mustangs to the CCS D-II title game as top-seeded Pioneer defeated Blossom Valley Athletic League-Mt. Hamilton Division foe and No. 5 seed Mt. Pleasant 2-0 in a CCS D-II semifinal game Tuesday afternoon at PAL Stadium.
Azevedo threw yet another gem, going the distance and giving up only three hits, a walk and striking out 10 in the win.
The junior praised Mt. Pleasant, which handed her one of her only two losses this season.
“We know that they are notorious for coming back and fighting every single game,” Azevedo said. “We were definitely prepared for that and we were always on our game all the way through.”
Both of the previous two meetings went into extra innings.
Pioneer (25-2) scored a run in the bottom of the first on a Mt. Pleasant throwing error and picked up an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth when Azevedo drove in Lauryn Garcia with an RBI triple.
With a possible third straight matchup in the D-II title against Archbishop Mitty looming, Pioneer stayed the course and did its job of reaching the title again.
The No. 2-seeded Monarchs will face No. 6 seed Leigh Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. at PAL Stadium in the other D-II semifinal game.
The D-II title game will take place on Saturday at PAL Stadium at a time to be determined.
Early-game jitters were running rampant for the Mustangs, as they committed three errors in the first two innings of play.
“They were pressing and I told the girls to relax,” Pioneer coach Ernie Garcia said. “We were all nervous but we calmed down a little bit and I told them ‘This is your game to win.’ If they wanted to win it’s up to them and they calmed down.”
Mt. Pleasant (18-6), which defeated Pioneer 3-2 on March 22, had its best chance to score in the top of the fifth when Carman McKenzie and Mariela Heredia reached on infield singles with only one out. However, the Cardinals couldn’t get that one big hit they needed against Azevedo.
“We always play them tough,” Mt. Pleasant coach Manny Resendez said. “You can’t make any mistakes against them because they do have a tough pitcher. If you don’t make adjustments you find yourself where we are right now.”
Mt. Pleasant, which defeated No. 4 seed Valley Christian 6-3 to reach the semifinals, will graduate seven players from its 12-player roster.
Junior pitcher Jessell Lewis threw a gem of her own (6 IP, 3 H, 2 R, ER, 2 HBP, 3 Ks) but took the hard-luck loss for Cardinals.
The Cardinals felt that if just a break or two had gone their way they might have pulled the upset.
“It was a tough loss, we could’ve had them,” Lewis said. “Little errors, we could’ve made better contact — we were thinking too much. (Pioneer) played a good game.”
Pioneer, which has spent the bulk of the year as the No.1 ranked team in the Prep2Prep CCS Top 25, knows it will need to play a great game on Saturday if it hopes to get that elusive CCS title monkey off its back.
After a tight extra-inning win over Christopher in the quarters and another tight victory over a team that had previously beaten them, the Mustangs have proven they can eke out some tight games.
With a more determined than ever Azevedo in the circle, Pioneer hopes to be up for the challenge.
“We’re not losing this time,” Azevedo said. “I don’t think it’s another game for us after losing two years in a row. We’re going to come out firing.”
