Prep softball: San Marin nearly perfect in 1-0 loss to top seed

Liz Hartmann’s final game as head coach of the San Marin High softball team and MCAL Player of the Year Katie Cook’s last softball game period was memorable, to say the least.

The eighth-seeded Mustangs gave No. 1 Pinole Valley all it could handle before the hosts pushed across the game’s only run in the bottom of the sixth inning for a 1-0 victory in the North Coast Section Division III quarterfinals on Saturday.

Hartmann, a 2001 San Marin grad, is stepping down after 11 seasons as the Mustangs’ head coach. Cook, a senior third baseman, has decided to focus on academics at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, where she will study engineering, and will not play college softball.

“If there was a game to lose to go out, this couldn’t have gotten any better,” said Hartmann. “The team that I knew was here all along was here today.”

San Marin (9-13) may have been a major underdog against Pinole Valley (26-1), but someone forgot to tell the Mustangs.

Junior pitcher Brittany Casper carried a perfect game into the bottom of the sixth inning until the Spartans strung together a double to left field by Kathleen Gonzalez and an infield single between San Marin’s first and second basemen by Eliana Lerma. The play at home on Gonzalez was close, but the Spartan slid just under the tag for the game-winner.

“To have a pitcher pitching a perfect game into the sixth inning was just unbelievable,” said Hartmann. “To see that happen against the No. 1 team that everybody told us we didn’t stand a chance against — we believed.”

Casper was masterful, giving up just the two hits in the sixth and striking out five. She retired 16 consecutive batters through 5 1/3 innings. There were no walks in the game by either pitcher.

The Mustangs were limited to three hits, one each by Cook, Casper and catcher Savannah Reynolds. Cook led off the top of the second with a double down the left-field line and moved to third on a groundout by Casper but was stranded to squelch the Mustangs’ best scoring opportunity.

Cook showed off her MVP defensive form with two tough, wind-blown catches behind the pitcher’s circle. First baseman Shelby Atkinson snared a line drive that saved an extra-base hit.

“We’re all proud of how we played,” said Cook, who hit .525 this season. “I feel like we could have gone on and done great things. I think it was a good way to end the year.”

Cook said she was shocked when she learned she was named MCAL Player of the Year last week. The 5-foot-7 senior had considered playing college softball but recruiting during COVID was hard and she chose the classroom over the diamond.

“I’m happy to leave it here,” said Cook. “After putting my all into the recruiting process at some point I thought it was more important to focus on my future career. It was a good run and I wouldn’t want to do it with any other team.”

Hartmann will be replaced by assistant coach Samantha Tong, who played for Hartmann at San Marin. Under Hartmann, the Mustangs have gone 140-61 with an NCS championship in 2017 and MCAL titles in 2013 and 2018.

“I haven’t had a spring off since I was 14 years old,” said Hartmann, who played varsity softball for the Mustangs all four years. “It’s never going to be a right time. It’s never going to be a perfect time.”

In addition to Cook, the Mustangs were well-represented on the All-MCAL team. Shortstop Lauren Fong made the first team, Casper and Atkinson were second-team picks, and outfielder Ava Free was an honorable mention. The only senior among the group is Cook.