SAN JOSE – There were two outs in the bottom of the seventh and a tied score. Extra innings were beckoning.
Katelynn Dilbeck had another idea. The senior catcher ripped a line-drive double to left field, and Lea Crawford scored from second to send the home crowd into a frenzy as Willow Glen defeated Tracy 3-2 Thursday in a Northern California Division II softball semifinal.
“That’s every softball player’s dream,” Dilbeck said. “It was an inside pitch and I saw that pitch pretty well. It was the pitch I was waiting for.”
The Rams are now one win away from repeating as NorCal Division II champions.
“We’ve come a long way since the beginning of the season,” said Dilbeck, who had three hits in four at-bats.. “I’m proud of where we’ve come and we’re not done yet.”
Willow Glen’s Katelynn Dilbeck (25) celebrates her walk-off double with Willow Glen’s Catalina Medina (16) which scored Willow Glen’s Lea Crawford (35) to beat Tracy 3-2 in the bottom of the seventh inning for their 2024 CIF NorCal Division II semifinal game at Willow Glen High School in San Jose, Calif., on Thursday, May 30, 2024. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
Tracy (25-5-1) took an early lead with two runs in the top of the third on one hit, two walks, a hit batter and an error.
But Willow Glen (24-7) answered with two runs of its own in the bottom half of the inning.
Freshman center fielder and spark-plug leadoff hitter Catalina Medina started it off with a single. Dilbeck followed with a single to left. Then Alanna Clincy ripped an opposite-field liner that the Tracy right fielder got a glove on, but could not secure. The ball fell to the ground, two runs scored and Clincy pulled into third base with a triple.
So it was 2-2 after three and it stayed that way until Dilbeck’s walk-off in the seventh.
Willow Glen’s Alanna Clincy (89) hits a two-run triple against Tracy in the third inning for their 2024 CIF NorCal Division II semifinal game at Willow Glen High School in San Jose, Calif., on Thursday, May 30, 2024. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
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Clincy kept the visitors from scoring again while pitching out of several jams. She went the full seven innings and allowed only that one third-inning hit, while walking six and striking out five.
“I was definitely not on,” Clincy said. “I’d say it was one of my worst pitching performances.”
Clincy, a right-handed sophomore, improved to 16-5 on the season. In 125 innings she has allowed only 55 hits and struck out 193.
Last year in the NorCal final it was catcher McKenna Campbell who hit a game-winning walk-off double. This time it was the current catcher, Dilbeck, who did the same.
“I love her for that,” Clincy said. “It really helped me out. I don’t know if I could’ve gone another inning.”
Willow Glen’s Katelynn Dilbeck (25) celebrates her walk-off double which scored Willow Glen’s Lea Crawford (35) to beat Tracy 3-2 in the bottom of the seventh inning for their 2024 CIF NorCal Division II semifinal game at Willow Glen High School in San Jose, Calif., on Thursday, May 30, 2024. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
No. 3 seed Willow Glen will host No. 8 Capital Christian, a 3-0 winner over Salinas in the other Division II semifinal, on Saturday at 4 p.m. with a chance to capture back-to-back NorCal titles.
“We knew we were going to be pretty close to where we were last year,” Willow Glen coach Don Spingola said. “We knew what we needed to do, we knew we needed to put the ball in play. We’re an aggressive running team and that’s how we’ve won some games. This is a team effort. Everyone contributes in different ways and that’s all we can ask for.”
Willow Glen’s Lea Crawford (35) celebrates her triple against Tracy in the fourth inning for their 2024 CIF NorCal Division II semifinal game at Willow Glen High School in San Jose, Calif., on Thursday, May 30, 2024. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
Willow Glen’s Katelynn Dilbeck (25) celebrates her double at second base against Tracy in the third inning for their 2024 CIF NorCal Division II semifinal game at Willow Glen High School in San Jose, Calif., on Thursday, May 30, 2024. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
Willow Glen’s Catalina Medina (16) makes a catch in centerfield for an out on a hit by Tracy’s Emalee Cargill (23) in the first inning for their 2024 CIF NorCal Division II semifinal game at Willow Glen High School in San Jose, Calif., on Thursday, May 30, 2024. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
Willow Glen starting pitcher Alanna Clincy (89) throws against Tracy in the fourth inning for their 2024 CIF NorCal Division II semifinal game at Willow Glen High School in San Jose, Calif., on Thursday, May 30, 2024. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
Willow Glen’s Sienna Wilson (1) makes a catch for an out on a hit by Tracy’s Leilani Benson (11) in the fifth inning for their 2024 CIF NorCal Division II semifinal game at Willow Glen High School in San Jose, Calif., on Thursday, May 30, 2024. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
Willow Glen’s Cianna Miranda (24) throws to first base for an out on a hit by Tracy’s Emma Golden (12) in the sixth inning for their 2024 CIF NorCal Division II semifinal game at Willow Glen High School in San Jose, Calif., on Thursday, May 30, 2024. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
Willow Glen’s Haley Ocumen (10) hits a single against Tracy in the sixth inning for their 2024 CIF NorCal Division II semifinal game at Willow Glen High School in San Jose, Calif., on Thursday, May 30, 2024. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
Willow Glen’s Cianna Miranda (24) makes a catch for an out on a hit by Tracy’s Kaylee Carrillo (14) in the fourth inning for their 2024 CIF NorCal Division II semifinal game at Willow Glen High School in San Jose, Calif., on Thursday, May 30, 2024. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)