One pitch from elimination, St. Francis rallies for thrilling NorCal win

MOUNTAIN VIEW St Francis was down to its last strike Sophomore Jaime Oakland two-time West Catholic Athletic League MVP -for- on the day was at the plate with the Lancers on the verge of being upset at home in the opening round of NorCals for the second year in a row The count went -and- and Oakland fouled off a pitch Then she fouled off another barely getting a piece of it and topping it in the dirt by home plate But on the next pitch she saw one up in the zone and got a hold of it She drove it to deep center for a run-scoring double as May Meltz scampered around with the tying run On the brink of despair St Francis was still alive That brought shortstop Peyton Tsao to the plate the No hole batter Tsao went into the contest with a batting average and extra-base hits She worked the count to -and- before hitting a pitch on the outside corner to right field The Rocklin right fielder dove for the ball and came up with it Oakland streaked home with the apparent go-ahead run while the Rocklin side screamed that the catch had been made for the third out The umpires conferred and came out of their huddle making the ruling that it was a trap Tournament over Walkoff - win for St Francis I really felt she was at least going to hit the ball hard at somebody St Francis coach MIke Oakland reported of Tsao And she did I just had a good feeling about that one Once Jaime got the double it kind of popped the bubble a little bit I think we were a little more relaxed in that last at-bat No seed St Francis - advances to play at No Del Oro on Thursday in a Division I semifinal That was awesome this group of seniors doesn t want to stop playing together Oakland announced They know this is their last week and they want to extend it as long as they can No seed Rocklin jumped out to the lead in the top of the first when Katie Wetteland the third batter of the event hit one over the center-field fence for her th homer of the season The Lancers tied it in the third Catcher Malianna Liongitau led off with a single Pinch runner Aryka Gunsager took second on Meltz s sacrifice bunt and scored on Maya Yumiba s line-drive single to left-center The points stayed - until the sixth when Rocklin scored a run that appeared like it might end St Francis season Addie Titlow hit a one-out single and Wetteland was intentionally walked Savannah Lorenzini singled home Titlow and starting pitcher Ava Bulanti was replaced by freshman Blanka Fisher who managed to pitch out of the jam with no additional runs scoring St Francis came up for what could have been its last at-bats of the season in the bottom of the seventh Meltz hit a one-out single and stole second Rocklin pitcher Payton Prior struck out Yumiba for the second out bringing Oakland to the plate Related Articles De La Salle surges into NorCal D semifinals with win over Del Oro CIF NorCal baseball roundup Serra edges College Park in -inning thriller CIF NorCal baseball softball Tuesday s scores updated schedule Menlo School s Jackson Flanagan fires gem in NorCal D-IV playoff shutout De La Salle boys finish second at CIF state golf as SoCal freshman wins individual title I d never seen her before those first three at-bats but I felt confident knowing that one base hit could change the tournament Jaime Oakland disclosed I fouled off a couple and then got that one pitch down the middle That brought Tsao up in a tie competition Once she got on I had a lot more confidence that I was going to do it do it for the company Tsao reported It means so much to win this meeting because I get another day to play with my seniors and see how far we can go And to get the game-winning hit in the bottom of the seventh It s absolutely a dream Tsao disclosed A dream come true