Villar strikes out 10 batters in Gilroy softball’s 1-0 victory
over RLS
GILROY – Sophomore hurler Sarah Villar didn’t even know she was on track for her first varsity no-hitter in Tuesday’s non-league finale against Robert Louis Stevenson (RLS). All she did know was that it was a scoreless tie going into the final frame.
“I didn’t think I was doing my best,” said Villar, whose squad came through in its last at-bats to secure her no-hit bid with a thrilling 1-0 home victory. “My velocity was not there.”
It did not have to be, as Villar struck out 10 batters and walked only two to keep the Lady Pirates in check through seven flawless innings of work.
“That’s excellent and she wasn’t even throwing her best game,” said head coach Julie Berggren of Villar’s first no-hitter. “If she does throw her best game, I can’t wait to see the result. Her best is yet to come.”
After bouncing up and down from varsity to junior varsity last season, Villar, who has a 3-1 record thus far, has solidified her starting position in the big leagues.
“I was definitely excited (about making varsity). I love the team I’m on now,” Villar said. “We’re definitely going to have a great season. Everyone has the drive to play and we all want to be here, which makes the team great.”
Villar needed her teammates to generate at least one run against RLS, and they came through in the final inning of regulation play.
“We all had to depend on each other and we were all not there today,” Villar said. “We all helped each other out in the end. We played together as a team.”
With one out in the seventh, senior catcher Bria DeLorenzo nearly ended the game on one swing, crushing a deep fly ball to center field. The ball did not make the outfield fence, but landed DeLorenzo on second base with a stand-up double. Sophomore Marissa Nowakowski then entered the game as a pinch runner.
Junior shortstop Kayla Aldridge stepped to the plate next, and smacked a grounder back to the mound. The Lady Pirates pitcher made a heads-up play, faking a throw to first and catching Nowakowski in-between third base and home plate. While the RLS infielders eventually tagged Nowakowski out, Aldridge made her way to second base.
Up next was freshman Russhelle Preeshl, who belted the game-winning single to right field that allowed Aldridge to come around and score. It was Preeshl’s second hit on the day.
“I do have confidence in them. We were flat today. Everyone could see that, but we did it when we needed it. We didn’t have to go back to extra innings,” said Berggren, who picked up the extra non-league game at last minute’s notice before Thursday’s league opener against Salinas at home. “It was nice to see other live pitching before Thursday.”
But Berggren admitted the game was a lot tighter than she would have liked it to be.
“Definitely, it was a lot closer than I thought it would be,” the coach said. “We should have hit their pitcher. We made her look better than she was. Overall, we made contact so that was good.”
