Prep softball: Tam rally falls just short in NCS quarterfinals

Turnarounds have been the cornerstone of the Tam High softball team this season.

After only winning four games a year ago, the Red-tailed Hawks rebounded to make the MCAL and North Coast Section playoffs in 2025.

Tam nearly pulled off the comeback of comebacks with two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning on Friday, falling just short against Pinole Valley, 3-2, in the NCS Division IV quarterfinals.

“This year our drive was just different,” said senior pitcher Eden Clark. “The energy on the field, the momentum, the happiness and joy we all showed to each other. Bonding as a team — we were much stronger.”

The Red-tailed Hawks (12-10) felt strong getting the No. 4 seed, a first-round bye and home-field advantage for their date with No. 5 Pinole Valley (18-7). But that meant Tam had a 10-day layoff following their loss in the first round of the MCAL playoffs.

“It turned out to be a really good game,” first-year coach Lynnette Egenlauf told her players. “That week and a half off without really playing anybody hurt. But you guys woke up and started swinging those bats.”

Catcher Christa Sasso began the seventh-inning rally when she reached base on Pinole Valley’s only error of the game. Senior second baseman Annica Harris ripped one of the hardest-hit balls of the night to right center, and Sasso scored when the relay was overthrown.

“I was just thinking about my team and getting on base to start a rally,” said Harris.

With Harris at third, Clark roped an RBI single to left field to cut the Hawks’ deficit to a run. Ava Lee followed with a drive to center that seemed to have enough gas to get over the Pinole Valley outfielder, but with wind blowing in, the speedy Julissa Sanchez tracked the ball down as Clark moved to second.

Hazel Walsh walked, and both she and Clark moved up a base following a wild pitch before a fly out to left ended the Hawks’ season. Not only did the Hawks strand two in the seventh, but they totaled eight runners left on base for the game.

Tam certainly had the pitching and hitting to keep its season going. Clark went the first four innings, only giving up two hits with 10 strikeouts. Lee pitched the final three frames, allowing two hits with three strikeouts.

The Hawks countered with eight hits but were unable to capitalize until the seventh.

The biggest difference for Pinole Valley, which moves on to face top-seeded Northgate, was speed and smarts on the bases. Sanchez led off the game with a single to center and raced to second and third at will. She scored the game’s first run on a sacrifice fly to right field.

Pinole Valley scored its second run without the benefit of a hit after a leadoff walk in the fourth. In the top of the seventh, the Spartans scored an unearned run for what proved to be the game-winner.

For coming so close to moving on in the NCS tournament, the Hawks’ post-game huddle was more of a celebration than a funeral. The Hawks like where their program is headed.

“They only won four games last year, and to see this turnaround is just amazing,” said Egenlauf, a 2007 Tam grad who played softball at College of Marin. “I’m just on a high right now. It’s amazing to see these girls turn it around in a one-year span.”