Blunders abounded on the base paths. Runners were left stranded at a disturbing rate. A parent was even ejected by the home plate umpire.
It wasn’t pretty Tuesday afternoon, but from St. Francis’ point of view, at least it was a win as it rallied to defeat St. Ignatius-San Francisco 4-3 in the opening round of the West Catholic Athletic League softball playoffs in Mountain View.
“Every game with SI has been intense,” St. Francis coach Samantha Aochi said. “But we knew we could come back and hit. It’s just reining in the focus.”
It took 10 innings for the No. 4 Lancers (14-10-1) to top St. Ignatius in their previous meeting. This time around, to avoid extra innings, it took a one-out triple from Carolyn McGuire in the bottom of the sixth followed by a single up the middle from catcher Kristine Kocjan to break a 3-all tie.
“I was kind of waiting for a change-up, so I was already back,” said McGuire, who turned on an inside fastball. “It was a mistake. I kind of looked at it for a while, like, ‘Oh, that felt pretty good.'”
For the first three innings, the breaks belonged to the fifth-seeded Wildcats (10-16).
Even though St. Francis sophomore Jackie Hinojosa erased a run by gunning down a runner at home from center field in the first, St. Ignatius had RBI doubles in each of the next two innings. Both scoring threats ended when the hitter overran second base and was caught in a pickle.
The Lancers, meanwhile, were stuck running station to station as opportunities to take an extra base were missed. The result was 11 runners left on base over the first five innings, including the bases loaded in the second and fifth.
“It’s the story of our season,” Aochi said.
The time to push the panic button never came, though.
“We weren’t worried,” McGuire said. “We’ve hit off that pitcher before.”
A leadoff walk from Gina Halenbeck opened the door for St. Francis in the fourth. Starting pitcher Alli Quinn followed with a single and the Lancers loaded the bases with one out on a bobbled grounder by the shortstop.
Pinch-hitter Jessie Hinojosa, who would play a bigger role later as she took over for her younger sister in center field, ended the shutout with an RBI single and Julia Quesada followed with a sacrifice fly. A grounder by McGuire looked to end the rally, but another error by the shortstop left the game tied.
“We changed our (hitting) approach halfway through the game and they listened and adjusted,” Aochi said. “That’s awesome.”
Quinn, who didn’t allow a hit over her last four innings in the circle, avoided trouble twice in the top of the sixth when Hinojosa tracked down a pair of deep shots in center field, including a running catch over her left shoulder on what could have been an inside-the-park homer.
“They’re both great athletes,” Aochi said of the Hinojosa sisters. “It’s kind of, do we need a hitter or do we need a bunter? That decides who goes in. To be honest, we have a team of 16 girls who can play anywhere. That’s what we’ve developed. So it’s about who is on that day.”
St. Francis used 15 different players, though Quinn was the only one to see time in the circle. The 5-foot-5 junior tossed a four-hitter with six walks and five strikeouts.
“She’s usually a slow starter and then she kicks it into gear,” Aochi said.
“It’s the energy of my team that keeps me going,” Quinn said. “Plus my catcher.”
St. Francis travels today to No. 2 Mitty-San Jose for a semifinal.
Email Vytas Mazeika at vmazeika@dailynewsgroup.com.
