NCS softball playoffs: Pinole Valley captures first section title in over a decade

NCS Division III softball championship: Pinole Valley rides Tatro's arm, diverse offense to first section title in over a decade

PLEASANT HILL – On a sunny Saturday afternoon at Diablo Valley College, Pinole Valley defeated heavy underdog Encinal 6-1 to win the North Coast Section Division III softball championship.

Pinole Valley looked every bit like the No. 1 seed in the first inning, batting around the order and scoring four runs. 

Melina Mendoza singled in one run, Aneesa Brewer drove in another, senior Milanya Rosales put one across the plate, and Jennifer Ramirez finished the scoring with a single into right. 

For a team that had scored a combined three runs in the past two games, the opening salvo felt like a weight being lifted off the Spartans’ shoulders. 

“Those first four runs in the first inning were huge just to get their confidence back,” Tatro said. “They were starting to worry. It’d been tough for a while to score.”

The Spartans would add two more runs to their lead in the third inning to take a commanding 6-0 advantage, and seemed to have the Jets on the ropes with Kailani Tatro on the mound. 

Encinal finally gave its fans something to cheer about in the fourth inning.  Third baseman Lola Whalen provided some pop for the Jets with a leadoff home run to put her team on the board.

“Lola is one of the highest home run hitters in the NCS, and she did exactly what she can do, hit it out of the park,” Encinal coach Maureen Layag said.

The big fly, Whalen’s 11th on the year, got the Encinal bench and its fans going, but that didn’t shake the confidence of Spartans pitcher Tatro.

The Robert Morris commit settled down and shut out the Jets the rest of the game, finishing with a final line of seven innings pitched, seven strikeouts, and only one run allowed.

“She’s always calm, she’s used to this,” Tatro said of his daughter and starting pitcher. “She’s faced some of the top girls in the country. She gets it, a one-run home run is going to happen, it’s a part of the game.”

With only one loss on the season, it wouldn’t seem like the road was rough for head coach Jason Tatro’s championship-winning Spartans, who won their first section title since 2009.

He would tell you otherwise.

“I had only six returners from last year, and I played four freshmen on this team,” Tatro said. “We even brought tons of freshmen up, and they showed up. I was kind of surprised that we did as well as we did.”

While Pinole Valley had to overcome losing players and filling a roster with younger players, Layag’s team overcame even more obstacles on its way to a berth in the section title game.

“It was probably the most challenging season I have had as a coach here for the last 10 years,” Layag said.

One of the issues was the rain that canceled many of their games causing the team to take longer to come together and mesh, Layag said.

“It took us until mid-April to really get our rhythm,” Layag said. “It’s probably why we’re a number 10 seed, but our record doesn’t reflect our team.”

Encinal’s great playoff run ends with a 15-11 record.

Pinole Valley (28-1) has qualified for the NorCal regional that starts Tuesday, The brackets will be announced Sunday.