Willow Glen loses first game of the year as St. Francis wins CCS Open Division softball championship in extras

SARATOGA — Willow Glen’s undefeated season is over.

The Rams entered Saturday‘s CCS Open Division championship 28-0 and the No. 1 seed in their playoff bracket. But No. 2 St. Francis proved to be a worthy challenger.

The Lancers scored two in the first inning against Rams superstar Alanna Clincy and kept adding on, building a four-run lead in the fourth. That held up until Willow Glen rallied to tie the game in the fifth.

But St. Francis took the lead in the eighth inning and went on to win 9-6, taking advantage of two bases-loaded walks.

A game this good requires multiple heroes, and St. Francis (27-3) had them in spades. There was freshman Bianka Fisher, a recent junior varsity call-up who pitched the final three innings and closed out the win in the eighth. 

Peyton Tsao, Hayden Hummel and Isabella Sandoval each drove in a pair of runs. And then there was starter Ava Bulanti, who suffered some uncharacteristic struggles across two separate stints in the circle on a scorching day in Saratoga. 

But thanks to their offense – and a key double play in the sixth – the Lancers remained in the game long enough for Bulanti to draw the game-winning bases-loaded walk in the top of the eighth. 

“I was surprised by that,” Bulanti said, “but I’m glad it happened. I mean, anything that I can do to help us get in the lead and get ahead, honestly, I’m down for it. I didn’t think that would be it, but I’m glad it happened.”

St. Francis only needed an eighth-inning rally because Willow Glen (28-1) staged a huge comeback in the fifth inning. The Rams trailed 6-2 after the Lancers plated two runs each in the third and fourth frames. 

Willow Glen began its surge with back-to-back doubles by Catalina Medina and Katelynn Dilbeck, then Clincy singled to center to cut the lead in half. Later in the inning, Lea Crawford drew a bases-loaded walk and Elizabeth Dilbeck singled to center, scoring Haley Ocumen to tie the game.

“We played our hearts out,” Willow Glen coach Don Spingola said. “Both sides expected a little bit tighter game, as far as not as many runs scored. But that’s what happens. You have good hitters against good pitching.”

The pitching struggles were a plot twist. The anticipated matchup between Bulanti and Clincy was expected to be a low-scoring duel.

Then St. Francis scored two runs in the first inning, and Clincy hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the same frame. This wasn’t going to be that kind of game.

“I didn’t think that Ava would make it through the seven innings,” St. Francis coach Mike Oakland said. “It’s just too hot, and she’s throwing too many pitches. What are we going to do? Extra innings, extremely emotional, a lot of anxiety, stress on every pitch and every call, and just glad we finished on top. Because when you walk away from a game like that when you don’t win, it can hurt.”

Willow Glen’s best chance to win came in the fifth. After Elizabeth Dilbeck’s game-tying single, the Rams still had the bases loaded and one out. 

Cianna Miranda hit a shallow pop fly to right field, and Maia Meltz ran it down, then quickly flipped the ball to first baseman Isabella Sandoval for an inning-ending, game-changing double play. 

“The catch that Meltz made is a catch that not a lot of second basemen can make,” Oakland said. “She’s extremely fast and agile, and it comes from, she’s a soccer player, right? So she’s got those quick soccer skills. I’m telling you, that ball falls, game over.”

Meltz’s play set the stage for Fisher to make a big contribution in her first CCS game. The freshman entered after Bulanti walked the leadoff hitter in the sixth, stranded her inherited runner and allowed just two baserunners across her three innings of work. 

“It was fun,” Fisher said. “I don’t know how much trust they had (in me), but I knew I had to pull through. My mentality was, ‘I have to do this. I have to pull through for my team and finish it.’ It was great. I was super stoked, really excited.”

In the eighth, St. Francis seized on the momentum of Fisher’s 1-2-3 seventh to retake control. Meltz singled to center to lead off, Maya Yumiba walked and Jaime Oakland bunted them over to second and third.

The Rams elected to intentionally walk Tsao, giving the crucial at-bat to Bulanti. She walked on four pitches, then Hummel walked on five. Sandoval scored the final run with an RBI groundout.  

“That game, it had its ups and downs,” Bulanti said. “Very emotional, but my team came through. We really had the bats swinging when we needed to. We put the ball in play against a really good pitcher too, and we got the runs when we needed them. So that was amazing.”

Both teams will be back in action during the CIF NorCal regional playoffs starting on Tuesday. Regional matchups will be released on Sunday.