San Jose – Yogi Berra’s famous adage was never more true than in Saturday’s Central Coast Section Division I softball finale at San Jose PAL Stadium.
It really ain’t over ’til it’s over.
Down to the last out and trailing by a pair of runs against a dominant pitcher, the Live Oak High softball team reached into its magician’s hat and yanked out the most improbable of all outcomes, a 5-4 comeback victory over league rival North Salinas that claimed the section title.
Trailing 4-2 going to the bottom of the seventh inning, LO got a leadoff single from junior center fielder Danielle Austin. But the next two batters went down – on a called third strike and a weak grounder back to the pitcher – and the Acorns’ backs were firmly against the wall.
However, with their irrepressible dugout and a wildly supportive contingent of fans in full voice, the Acorns simply refused to quit, even on the precipice of defeat. And, the sequence that followed would define the team as champions.
Junior shortstop Alyssa Adamo blooped a single just beyond the reach of the North Salinas second baseman to score Austin from second. Junior catcher April Herrera slashed a liner to right field that looked for an instant like it might hang up long enough to be caught, but hit the grass just beyond a hard-charging Viking right fielder and skipped beyond – allowing Adamo to race all the way around with the tying run. Herrera ended up on second with a double.
Then, with extra innings looming, sophomore first baseman Brittney Ondich kept the inning going by working a walk – fouling off several two-strike offerings. Herrera advanced to third on a passed ball.
That brought up sophomore third baseman Kelly McDonald, who lofted a high fly ball on the left side of the infield – an easy catch for either junior third baseman Ashley Eiseman or senior shortstop Calla Yee. Eiseman settled under the ball, but glanced over at Yee at the last moment and the ball fell to the infield dust as Herrera stepped on home plate with the championship run.
Pandemonium ensued. Acorns rushed at Herrera and McDonald, hugging and jumping in a jubilant celebration. The Acorn crowd hugged and jumped, too. Chants of “CCS, CCS, CCS,” rose from players and fans.
Acorn ace Juliette Bowers, the team’s lone senior, said the comeback didn’t surprise her.
“That’s this team,” Bowers said. “This team has so much heart. I never thought we were out of it.”
And, McDonald, who made the leap from JV to varsity starter in a single season, said her team never lost faith in itself.
“We were so behind but we knew if we kept playing hard we could do it,” she said.
Early on, it looked like the senior-laden North Salinas team would roll past the shaky Acorns, who struggled in the first few innings. LO had already beaten the Vikings twice this season, during Tri-County Athletic League play, and weren’t sharp in the early going against their familiar opponents.
North Salinas jumped on a few Acorn mistakes in the top of the first inning. Yee led off the game by reaching on a Bowers error and moving to second on the play, then scored when no one covered third on Yee’s stolen base attempt and Herrera’s throw sailed into left field. The Vikings added another run in the inning when Eiseman singled, moved to second on a Renee Halcon single, and to third on a passed ball, and scored on a misplayed ground ball to shortstop on which Adamo erroneously tried for a force at third.
The Vikings added a pair of runs in the top of the fourth on Eiseman’s RBI double and Halcon’s run-scoring triple, a pop fly on which outfielders Austin and Tanya Ferry collided.
Down 4-0 midway through the game, Live Oak looked to be in trouble, especially against a hot pitcher in North Salinas’ Jessica Boyle – who had notched upset wins against TCAL champion Notre Dame late in the regular season and top-seeded Carlmont in the CCS playoffs.
It didn’t help that the Acorns had squandered a couple of great chances to score, watching Ondich get thrown out trying to stretch a double to the wall into a triple in the second inning and failing to cash in freshman second baseman Sarah Locarnini after her one-out triple in the third.
But Herrera said the Acorns knew what they were up against and remained confident that they were up to the task.
“North Salinas was so strong, we knew we had to battle,” Herrera said. “Once we got our rallies going, we just kept it going.”
Live Oak broke the ice with two outs in the fourth inning on McDonald’s triple and sophomore left fielder Sabrina LaCorte’s clutch RBI single to center, pulling within 4-1.
The Acorns got within 4-2 in the sixth when Herrera tripled over the left fielder’s head and scored on Ondich’s RBI single to left. McDonald, who went 4-for-4, followed with a single to put the tying runs on base – a harbinger of heroics to come – but Live Oak couldn’t capitalize.
“It was our goal to get a banner to put up in our gym,” Herrera said. “And, we did it.”
This is the Live Oak softball program’s second CCS title in the past five seasons. The Acorns also won in 2001.
