SAN JOSE, CA – Fresh off pitching a no-hitter at the Queen of the Mountain Tournament last week won by Amador Valley, Dons ace Danielle Williams, the 2016 Prep2Prep CIFNCS Softball Player of the Year, continued her dominance in an 8-0 road victory on Tuesday afternoon over Archbishop Mitty.
The junior Missouri-committed left-hander pitched a one-hitter with 13 strikeouts, one walk and two hit batters, and although she did have one jam to get out of, Williams was never really in danger after Amador Valley took a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning.
Senior Hannah Myers led off with a double and was driven in on a second consecutive double by sophomore Julia Camello. She came in with the second run on an error that came on the same play as a single by Kaitlyn Jones.
The Dons got a single run in the fourth inning on a walk to Sofia Molina, a bunt single by Myers and a non-RBI squeeze by Camello that allowed Molina to score.
Amador Valley broke it open in the fifth inning with a four-spot. Promising speedy freshman Valeria Torres-Colon started things out by beating out an infield single. She advanced when Jessica Emde reached on an error. Williams was intentionally walked to load the bases bringing Courtney Dinelli to the plate. She promptly doubled home Torres-Colon and Emde. Williams’ courtesy runner Bridgett Aguilar scored on a sacrifice fly by Myers, and the courtesy runner for catcher Dinelli, Kirsten Sigua, came home on a double steal with an error involved.
The scoring was closed in the top of the seventh when Myers scored after tripling.
Myers went 3-for-3 with the double, triple and a sacrifice fly, with two RBIs and a run scored. Torres-Colon had two hits and looked good in the field. She brings some speed to the arsenal of Coach Teresa Borchard she hasn’t always had.
Defending CIF Central Coast Section Division II champion Mitty (3-2) now adds this loss for the young Monarchs to a 4-0 loss to a Notre Dame-Salinas team that went to 10-0 with a 5-4 win at cross-town rival Salinas on Tuesday.
Sophomore Savanna Smith went all the way for Mitty in the circle and gave up nine hits, eight runs but only four earned, and she walked three and struck out three.
The only Mitty scoring opportunity came in the bottom of the fourth when Rebecca Ortiz got the Monarchs only hit, a one-out double. After a strikeout Williams hit Lauren Lozano, and a passed ball got runners to second and third, but a softly hit grounder to first ended the threat.
Williams looked a little quicker than last season and was mostly around the mid-60’s with her fastball and riser, but she’s tweaked her changeup and it gave Mitty fits.
"Mitty has a great reputation and is always a great, well-coached program," Borchard said. "To get a win like that allowed our girls to see what we can do and gave us great momentum going into league and the Michelle Carew."
With the win Amador Valley and Williams both go to 5-0 to start the season going into a home game on Wednesday with Benicia. From there they begin East Bay Athletic League play next week before heading off to Southern California for the Michelle Carew Classic in Orange County.
