Willow Glen 2, No. 2 Archbishop Mitty 0

A few hours after the final out, second-year Willow Glen softball coach Don Spingola succinctly summed up how his first-year pitchers performed against a loaded Archbishop Mitty lineup. 

“In all honesty, our two freshman pitchers lit it up,” Spingola said. 

The precocious duo of Lea Crawford and Alanna Clincy combined to allow one hit in Willow Glen’s 2-0 victory at crosstown rival Archbishop Mitty. 

Not only did Willow Glen hand Mitty its only loss of 2023, the Rams were also the first Bay Area public school to defeat the storied private school since Foothill in 2020.

“These two girls are the future of Willow Glen,” Spingola said. “We need to make sure we’re throwing them against the best competition.” 

Sophomore Sienna Wilson and senior McKenna Campbell each drove in a run during the sixth inning to put Willow Glen on top. However, it could be argued it was a defensive play in the second inning that was Wilson’s most important contribution. 

“It was a blooper over the first-baseman’s head, and she dove and made a great play,” Spingola said. “It totally changed the whole game. They could’ve had a runner on first and third with two outs, and she totally killed the inning.”

Playing a team of Mitty’s caliber is something Spingola hopes the team will benefit from. Last year’s Willow Glen team went 25-2 during the regular season but lost in the first round of the Central Coast Section Division I playoffs. 

“We had a great season last year, but we didn’t play great teams, and we felt like we missed our opportunity in CCS,” Spingola said. “We wanted to make sure we had a different attitude and different focus this year.” 

Even though the coach referred to Mitty (4-1) as “Goliath” and said the Rams relished taking down the established San Jose powerhouse, he did not characterize his team as a bunch of plucky underdogs. 

“Just like Mitty, they’re all travel softball players,” Spingola said. “But when they’re here, we work as one unit.” 

Now 5-1 and on the verge of entering league play, the coach likes where his team is at after capturing such a big win. 

“I think they can definitely take this momentum and confidence from this game and build on it,” the coach said.

SOFTBALL ROUNDUP:

No. 7 Pinole Valley 7, Dougherty Valley 5

Pinole Valley improved to 11-0 in a high-scoring game in San Ramon. Senior infielder Milanya Rosales was 2 for 4 and had three Rbis for Pinole Valley, and pitcher Kailani Tatro struck out 10 while also slapping two doubles. 

Dougherty Valley shortstop and Stanford commit Mylia Perez went 1 for 3 and also drew a walk. Dougherty Valley pitcher Katie Osborn also had an RBI. 

Dougherty Valley and Pinole Valley were tied 4-4 heading into the top of the fourth, but RBIs by Melina Mendoza, Vanessa Castaneda and Tatro gave the Spartans a lead they would never relinquish. 

While Pinole Valley stayed perfect on the season, Dougherty Valley dropped to 5-1.

No. 6 Benicia 10, Acalanes 0

Benicia no-hit Acalanes in six innings, with starting pitcher Braxton Brown striking out 10 on 101 pitches. Brown also drove in two runs as a hitter. 

Shortstop Emma French also had a big day at the plate, going 3 for 4 with a home run and two RBIs. Junior Kyra Mason hit a triple and also drew two walks, and Sinead Maas and Vanessa Smith each accounted for two RBIs.

Benicia scored six runs in the top of the sixth to blow the game open, and improved to 4-1 on the season. Acalanes dropped below .500 with a 3-4 record. 

Berkeley 16, St Mary’s-Albany 0

Berkeley scored six runs in the third inning and nine runs in the sixth to end the game at St. Mary’s one inning early. 

Junior Melody Castro hit a home run and drove in three RBIs. Third-basemen Avery Lyman and first-basemen Camden Bernhard also had a triple and three RBIs apiece for the Yellowjackets. 

Sophomore Addison Davis and junior Beatrice Espinoza combined to allow only two hits to St. Mary’s. Both of the home team’s hits were collected by senior L. Pepper Rosen. 

Both teams ended the night with 3-4 records after the non-league matchup. 

Saratoga 13, Prospect 1

Saratoga racked up 14 hits in five innings as the home team overwhelmed visiting Prospect. Senior Lily Guzman was unstoppable at the plate, hitting a double, a triple and a home run on her way to a four-RBI game.

Complementing her was leadoff hitter Saira Ramakrishnan, a sophomore who went 3 for 4 and had two RBIs. Sophomore Maggie Huesby also had two hits for Saratoga. 

Sophomore Dani Rauscher had three hits for Prospect, and freshman Diana Noriega drove Rauscher in during the top of the first to give the visitors a brief lead. 

Saratoga improved to 6-2. Meanwhile, Prospect is still searching for its first win of the season during an 0-5 start. 

Leigh 14, Gunn 2

Freshman sensation Camryn Manning-Alarcon had five RBIs in Leigh’s run-rule win over visiting Gunn, and all three of Manning-Alarcon’s hits were doubles.

Fellow freshman Elliana Snyder collected two hits and three RBIs, and Sophia Hooper, another freshman, also had two RBIs and two hits. 

Junior Elise Haneta scored three runs and collected one RBI from the leadoff spot as Leigh scored 11 runs in the first inning. 

Gunn senior Brenna Birnbaum went 2 for 3 and had an RBI, and freshman shortstop Makena Smith hit a triple. Leigh improved to 4-4, and Gunn dropped to 3-8. 

Woodside 11, Sacred Heart Cathedral 10

Woodside earned its first victory of the season in dramatic fashion, knocking off the previously-undefeated Fightin’ Irish with a walk-off sacrifice fly by junior Kaitlyn Jackson in the bottom of the seventh inning. 

First-baseman Kelly Baek had tied the game a few batters before with a triple into center field that drove in sophomore Lacey Barstad. 

Danielle Cote and Kaitlin Ruegg each drove in three RBIs for Sacred Heart Cathedral, and Baek, Barstad and Brooke Faure drove in two runs each. 

Woodside improved to 1-5, and Sacred Heart Cathedral’s record slipped to 8-1. 

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BASEBALL ROUNDUP:

Sacred Heart Cathedral 2, No. 4 Bellarmine 1

For the second time in less than a week, Bellarmine suffered a tough one-run loss in West Catholic Athletic League play. 

A two-run homer by junior Tate Medicoff was all the offense Cathedral would need (and get) as the pitching staff took over from there.

Aside from a solo home run by Bellarmine’s Caden Sta Maria in the bottom of the second, the Cathedral pitchers were excellent. 

Sophomore Quinn Middleton, junior Dylan Adelman and senior Franco Moran combined to shut Bellarmine out for the rest of the afternoon, walking just three Bells batters.

Bellarmine slipped to 7-3-1 and 3-2 in WCAL play, and Sacred Heart Cathedral improved to 3-7 and 1-3 in league competition. 

No. 20 College Park 12, Alameda 2

The Falcons improved to 2-4 after running up 12 hits and eight RBIs against visiting Alameda in a non-league game. 

College Park’s duo of Nathan Leffel and Kevwe Ojo combined for seven hits and six RBIs in the heart of the Falcons’ lineup. Sophomore James Voorhies and senior Sean McGinty also had RBIs.

Junior Diego Emerling pitched four innings and struck out six against Alameda, whose record dropped to 2-6.