San Mateo Forces Deciding Game at State; Watch LIVE
Follow this weekend's State championship action LIVE
by Andrew Wheeler, CCCFCA Sports Information
Bakersfield, CA -- After trailing over the first five and a half innings, College of San Mateo used a pair of errors by Palomar College in the bottom of the sixth to force a seventh and deciding game at the 2015 California Community College Athletic Association State Softball Championships. The Bulldogs scored twice in the bottom of the sixth for a 2-1 victory over the Comets.
Nerves showed over the first inning of the game. San Mateo (43-1) committed one error in the top of the first that eventually led to a score after Iesha Hill doubled to center field plating Brooke Huddleson. Palomar (40-4-1) would turn around and commit a pair of errors in the bottom of the first, but the Comets were able to get through the inning unscathed.
After the rough start to the game, the pitchers took control. Bulldogs pitcher Lauren Berriatua cruised through the second and third, setting Palomar down in order each frame, while Palomar's Summer Evans needed just four pitches to get through the second and gave up only a single in the third.
Berriatua continued to build up momentum in the top of the fourth by striking out the side. Evans in the bottom half of the inning almost found some trouble after giving up a leadoff single to her opponent in the circle, Berriatua, but Evans settled down and struck out the next batter, got an out via a sacrifice for the second, and induced a groundout for the third.
Both pitchers cruised through the fifth, while Berriatua kept up her unhittable ways into the sixth. That left San Mateo coming up with the heart of their order in the bottom of the sixth. Needing to get it going, the Bulldogs did just that and did so with a little help from Palomar errors.
Kayleen Smith would lead off the bottom of the sixth with a solid single back up the middle of the field. That brought the Bulldogs' best hitter, Harlee Donovan, to the plate. Donovan laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt, but Palomar mishandled the throw at first, leaving runners on first and second no outs. Berriatua would be the next batter up, and Berriatua drilled hard ground ball to third base. The Comets third baseman cleanly played the ball but dropped it trying to transfer the ball to her throwing hand leaving the bases loaded with no outs. The mistake proved costly as Leilani Akai stepped to the plate and laced the ball to left field scoring Donovan and Smith to give San Mateo all they needed.
Berriatua (29-1) was phenomenal in the win, giving up just one hit, one run (unearned), no walks, and five strikeouts. Evans (28-4) was saddled with the loss despite giving up just five hits, and a pair of unearned runs.
The deciding game will kick-off at approximately 2:05 PM.
Super Regional Brackets
Northern CA [Site A: Sierra College][Site B: College of San Mateo]
Southern CA [Site A: Palomar College][Site B:Allan Hancock College]
Regional Round 1 Brackets [Northern CA][Southern CA]