LIVERMORE — St. Francis is still very good at softball.
The Lancers were not able to win the Michelle Carew Classic they took part in last weekend down in Anaheim. But this week in Livermore, the top-ranked Lancers showed that they are still a force to be reckoned with in the Bay Area.
Facing off against numerous top teams from around the Bay at the Livermore Stampede, No. 1 St. Francis went 6-0, wrapping up its perfect tournament run with a 6-0 win over Whitney High School from Rocklin to clinch the championship.
Freshman Mercedes Coller pitched five no-hit innings to earn the win for St. Francis in the championship game. Junior Hailey Nguyen relieved her and pitched two perfect innings to seal the victory and pick up the save.
Senior Ava Bulanti pitched a complete-game one-hitter in the Lancers’ 8-0 semifinal win over Casa Grande.
It was a great night for pitching, with cool weather, damp conditions and balls playing dead off the bat. The Lancers took full advantage.
“The pitching is huge,” St. Francis coach Mike Oakland said. “If you can’t pitch, you’re not gonna win much. You can’t outslug everybody. So for us, it all starts in the circle, and then our defense is second. And then offensively, we try to put together some good at-bats and scrap runs and see what we can do.”
Oakland said he did not realize Coller had a no-hitter going when he removed her after the fifth, but he reasoned that he would have done the same thing had he known.
“I need Hailey to be in that situation. I need Mercedes to be in this situation,” Oakland said. “They need to get the experience. It’s gonna help them out later.”
Offensively, Hayden Hummel’s two-run single with two outs in the first inning got the Lancers started, giving St. Francis a 2-0 lead.
St. Francis (16-2) added on in the second as Maya Yumiba got caught in a rundown on a steal of second but held it up long enough for Maya Meltz to score. The throw went to home and both runners were safe, extending the inning.
The Lancers added one more run in the fifth, as Bulanti plated Peyton Tsao with a single to center. Two more came across in the fourth when Jamie Oakland drove in pinch-runner Emi Yumiba, then Tsao doubled home Oakland to go up 6-0.
But St. Francis’ pitchers were the stars of the show. Coller was unable to finish off her first career no-no, but there should be plenty of opportunities ahead to do so for the Lancers’ first-year hurler.
“I do (wish I had stayed in),” Coller said. “But it’s OK. Hailey kept it going, so it doesn’t really matter.”
Bulanti, who has accumulated a number of no-hitters in her illustrious St. Francis career, was a proud senior when watching her younger teammates get their first taste of a hitless game in the circle.
“I’m not jealous. I’m proud of my girls,” said Bulanti, who won the tournament’s MVP award and is committed to Stanford. “They’re gonna keep the program running next year, so I’m happy for their success.”
St. Francis’ staff recognizes the value pitching can provide as the Lancers chase CCS and NorCal titles. The Lancers allowed just two runs across six games at the Stampede, showcasing just how deep their collection of arms is against some of the Bay Area’s best softball teams.
“Our coach said at the beginning of the season, he has four things: defense, offense, pitching, and then energy on the bench,” Bulanti said. “Pitching makes up a huge part of the team. It’s what can win us games against good hitting teams. If we shut that down, we trust our hitting enough and the girls on the team to get runs on our side. So pitching, we take a lot of pride in that.”
“Most of the time, pitching keeps us in games,” Coller added.
Or, as Coller, Nguyen and Bulanti displayed, it simply shuts them down.
Liberty and Casa Grande faced off in the third-place game, with Abby McSweeney-Franklin hitting a walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh to give Casa Grande a 1-0 win. It was a night for no-hitters, as Casa Grande pitcher Lila Mae Partridge spun a perfect game with 13 strikeouts.
Livermore beat Benicia 9-5 in the fifth-place game. Sheldon topped San Ramon Valley 5-4 in the seventh-place game. Granada beat Alameda 5-4 in the battle for ninth.
Mitty triumphed 7-2 over College Park in the battle for 11th. California beat Amador Valley 4-3 to finish 13th. Carondelet edged Freedom 4-3 to take 15th.
