Prep softball: San Marin advances to Division I quarterfinals

Rock solid defense and a gutsy pitching performance by sophomore Taylor Testa spurred the San Marin High softball team to a 4-3 victory over Vintage in the first round of the North Coast Section Division I playoffs Tuesday night in Novato.

Clinging to a one-run lead with runners at second and third in the bottom of the seventh inning, the Mustangs slammed the door on the Crushers from Napa when senior shortstop Lauren Fong threw a bullet to first off a sharply-hit grounder for the game’s final out by a hair.

“I’ve said it time and time again — we have one of the best defenses in the (MCAL),” said San Marin coach Samantha Tong. “I truly believe that. Even when we have little hiccups, they’re able to pick themselves up and we still get it done.”

Ninth-seeded San Marin (19-6) earned the home game against No. 8 Vintage (18-8) by virtue of its MCAL championship, even though the Mustangs were the visitors in the scorebook. Next up for the Mustangs is a date at top-seeded Liberty (20-4) in Brentwood on Friday at 5 p.m.

Besides game-saving defensive gems, the Mustangs won their seventh straight game thanks to a determined, banged-up pitcher with a taped left hand. Testa, who pitches right-handed but bats left-handed, was drilled by Vintage pitcher Angie Rubalcava twice in the game, marking the 13th and 14th times she’s been hit by a pitch this season.

After she was hit for the second time in the fifth inning, Testa began favoring her glove hand to the point that first baseman Avery Bishop came over to catch foul balls being thrown back to the pitching circle. Testa said there is no way she was coming out of the game and will forgo getting an X-ray on her left thumb until the season is complete.

“She’s very physically and emotionally mature for her age,” Tong said of Testa. “She’s only a sophomore and she has the need and want to win. She’s a competitor. She wants to get out there and put the team on her back. I have all the faith in the world in her. She just dominates.”

Testa scattered six hits, including two in the bottom of the seventh inning when the Mustangs relied on three groundouts to seal the victory — one back to the pitcher and two to Fong.

“I wanted the ball to come to me,” said Fong. “We’re locked in. I love my defense so much. I appreciate every single one of them — how hard they work. Everyone picks each other up. It’s just amazing.”

The Mustangs scored a pair of runs in the top of the second on three singles and a passed ball. Tessa Christian used a single to right field to score pinch-runner Olivia Maffei, and Leah Cronin raced home from third on a passed ball.

The Crushers answered right back to tie the game at 2-2. With two out and two on, the Crushers took advantage of a dropped ball on a routine play at first for both runs.

Brushing off the miscue like MCAL champs that they are, the Mustangs went back ahead 3-2 on an RBI single by Arianna Mendoza, whose shot up the middle hit off the pitcher’s glove and dribbled into right field, scoring Cronin. Amanda Postel, who singled to center, made it 4-2 when she scored on an errant throw down the third-base line from the Vintage catcher.

Vintage pushed its final run across in the sixth inning, but left baserunners on the corners when Bishop corralled a pop-up at first. The Crushers also stranded a pair of baserunners in the seventh.

“I have full confidence in my defense, and they really did help me out,” said Testa. “Obviously, I’m in pain and I don’t want to be throwing extra pitches. I’m going to throw hittable pitches and make sure my defense is behind me.”