NorCal softball championship: Hollister denies St. Francis’ repeat bid, with help from the elements and an error

HOLLISTER – In a game where every fly ball turned into a guaranteed popup once confronted by swirling Hollister winds, it was only fitting that St. Francis’ bid for back-to-back NorCal Division I titles ended on a ground ball in the bottom of the ninth.

With the game scoreless, Hollister’s Lauryn McShane hit a pitch up the middle with runners on first and second and one out in the inning. 

What should have been a routine force play was flubbed by the infield, the flip to second getting away from the defense and allowing runner Kyla Hignel not just to take third, but to also slide into home and score on a walk-off.

The entire Hollister team converged upon their teammate to celebrate the 1-0 victory and the school’s first NorCal championship.

“It feels incredible,” pitcher Sophia Mariottini said. 

‘Incredible’ would also be a superb way of describing how Mariottini defanged the St. Francis hitters for the second time in a week. 

Just as she did in the Haybalers’ 4-0 victory in the Central Coast Section title game, the senior used changeups and inside pitches to keep the Lancers off-balance. 

“I thought we had really good at-bats but we just weren’t getting anything out of it,” St. Francis coach Mike Oakland said. “But you have to credit their pitcher because they were able to keep us off the board.”

His own ace was just as good, junior Kate Munnerlyn striking out 11 and allowing just four hits. 

On the occasions the Haybalers got runners in scoring position, like in the fourth inning where Hollister had players on the corners with no outs, Munnerlyn escaped with two strikeouts and a tag-out at the plate. 

“I’m bummed,” Munnerlyn said. “I put my heart out into the game.”

Perhaps St. Francis’ best chance to score came at the very start of the game, when Carly Cummings and Jaime Oakland led off the championship with a hit and walk, and got into scoring position after a sacrifice bunt. 

A composed Mariottini induced a groundout, a soft popup and a liner to third base to escape.

Of her 27 outs, 16 came via popups and fly balls. 

“I’ve been working so hard on that changeup for the past three years, and I was like, this is it. This is my time,” the pitcher said. “The big thing was knowing my defense had my back, and I knew my offense was going to come through at some point.”

“I had read a few articles … and they were just talking about revenge, revenge, revenge. So I was a little nervous. I was like ‘Oh, they’re definitely coming for me and they’re out for blood this game.’”

Munnerlyn made sure it took Hollister until extra innings to make the Lancers bleed, but St. Francis never made the opposing pitcher pay for rare mistakes.

Before the game, a Hollister assistant coach declared that the Haybalers would use the familiar gusts to their advantage. 

And as each and every ball died in midair and dropped harmlessly into a Baler glove, his prediction was proven true. After winning the NorCal semifinal against Central-Fresno in nine-innings, the Lancers were once again headed to extra innings. 

“I think that if there wasn’t wind, I bet a couple of balls would have flown out of here,” Munnerlyn said. 

The home team just needed one break to go its way, and that’s what happened in the bottom of the ninth. 

Dominique Oliveira started with a groundball single into right, and Hannah Sanchez sacrifice bunted her teammate into scoring position. Munnerlyn intentionally walked her pitching counterpart Mariottini to enable the force at second. 

St. Francis got the desired play, but not the desired outcome as Hollister took down the Mountain View school and were rewarded with regional hardware. 

“I think we were a little frantic. We make that play every single practice,” St. Francis’ Shannon Keighran said. “We just slipped up once and it cost us.“