Monterey returns to the finals
SAN JOSE >> The first thing senior left fielder Darcy Fisher did after the last out was jump into the arms of assistant softball coach Brian Wedderburn. Then she called her mom.
“I just said: `Mom, we're going to the championships,' ” said Fisher, who has been a part of the Monterey program for four years.
This wasn't supposed to happen. Not when you're the No. 8 seed in Division II. Apparently, Monterey had different ideas.
The Toreadores are going back to the Central Coast Section championships for the first time in 26 years after knocking off No. 4 seed and West Catholic Athletic League nemesis Valley Christian 7-1 at PAL Stadium in San Jose.
“One team was crying, and the other is excited to play for a championship,” Monterey coach Catherine Elder said. “The job is not done. But the team exploded with excitement.”
The Toreadores (20-8) will face No. 2 Capuchino (19-9) — 1-0 winners over Hillsdale — on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. at PAL Stadium. Coincidentally, it was Capuchino that beat Monterey 5-4 in that 1996 title game.
In fact, Capuchino has knocked Monterey out of the postseason three times.
The Toreadores, who have made 18 postseason appearances with the first coming in 1977, have never won a CCS softball title.
The two teams did meet earlier this year in a tournament with Monterey prevailing 2-1 on March 2.
“Honestly, I don't remember much about them or the game,” Fisher said. “I probably won't even start thinking about it until I get home later tonight.”
Runners-up in the Mission Division, the Toreadores have knocked off two higher-seeded teams in the tournament, sending top seed and defending CCS Division I champion Watsonville home in the quarterfinals.
In two postseason games, Monterey has outscored the opposition 18-1.
“The last couple of weeks, the five seniors have really become leaders,” Elder said. “We just figured it out. Everything we've worked for on and off the field came together. We became a team.”
Fisher, who broke up a 1-1 tie in the sixth inning with a two-run double, felt a change in the attitude when Monterey needed to win a play-in game just to make the postseason.
“We can either go home or go on a run,” Fisher said. “We had some rough patches with our chemistry. We kind of all came together and started playing as a team. Our energy changed. The bond just got better. We are so much more like a family.”
Fisher's clutch two-run double brought in the eventual game-winning runs. Insurance came in the seventh when Mia Henson cleared the bases with a three-run triple.
“Our energy was up in the seventh inning,” Elder said. “We've just started hitting the ball with more consistency. It is a great time to be playing our best softball.”
While the bats have come to life in the postseason, freshman Ella Myers has evolved as the ace in the circle, having not allowed an earned run in her past 17 innings, tossing a four-hitter with six strikeouts against Valley Christian (17-11).
Myers, who has also hit 11 home runs this year for Monterey, allowed just two hits after the first inning. The right-hander kept the Warriors off-balanced, mixing her pitches and getting ahead in the counts.
“She keeps a number of kids fooled with the rise ball when hitters fall behind in the count,” Elder said. “But Ella's best pitch is her screwball.”
Fisher, who has driven in five runs in her past three games, ripped the second pitch she saw over the center fielder's head to create pandemonium in the Monterey dugout.
“She threw me an inside pitch for a strike that I took,” Fisher said. “The second pitch was right there. I just hit it in the gap and over the outfielder's head. This is such an amazing feeling. It feels so nice to say we are in the championships.”