Marauders open playoffs with win Page 1B
#6 Monache tops #11 Frontier 10-0
One year later, one division higher and Monache High School is still playing the same top-notch level of softball that won them four straight East Yosemite League titles and a CIF Central Section Division II title last season.
One year later, one division higher and Monache High School is still playing the same top-notch level of softball that won them four straight East Yosemite League titles and a CIF Central Section Division II title last season.
The sixth-seeded Marauders (26-3, 10-0 EYL) will tell you they were nervous to play in their first Div. I playoff game, but Wednesday’s 10-0 shutout of the 11th-seeded Titans of Frontier (16-16) in a mercy-ruled six innings would say differently.
“I felt nervous, I still get butterflies in the playoffs,” MHS head coach Dave Koontz said. “When you stop getting butterflies, it’s time to get out. If you’re a competitor, you get butterflies. And they had butterflies. But you know what? I’ll say it again, this is an experienced team. They’re used to being in these positions, they’re experienced players. I can’t say it enough. It’s a senior-oriented team. This is where they’ve been before, they’re ready for this.”
With the game called after back-to-back RBIS from seniors Chloe Rivas and Taliann Hunter, respectively, the Marauders learned quickly that Friday’s quarterfinal game will be a much tougher game against the division’s third-seeded team — the Knights of Bullard (20-5). Hosting 14th-seeded Clovis East (0-22-3) at their field in Fresno, the Knights shutout the Timberwolves 5-0 also on Wednesday.
“We’ve scouted them a couple of times,” Koontz said. “They’re a good hitting team, they’ve got a good solid pitcher but nothing that we can’t hit and nothing that we can’t beat. I feel very confident going in. You got to play them and they’re a good team, and I respect the heck out of them but I’ll still say it — I’ll match my hitters and pitchers and defense against anybody in the Valley. I’m confident.”
In her 10th shutout of the season, Rivas continued to show why her coach calls her not only the best pitcher in school history, but also one of the best pitchers in the Valley. Already signed to the NCAA Division I’s New Mexico State University, Rivas allowed no runs on two hits, one walk and six strikeouts.
“And that’s a good hitting team,” Koontz said about Frontier. “They play in a tough league (Southwest Yosemite), it’s a good hitting team. Said it before, I’ll say it again — she’s one of the two best pitchers in this Valley, I wouldn’t trade her for anybody.”
Playing at home with a big blue-and-gold crowd behind them, Monache went up 3-0 in the first inning and never looked back with an error-free defense.
In the third inning the Marauders’ No. 7-9 batters — Cieanna Correa, Kiyah Ramirez and Alyssa Gonzalez — hit backto-back RBIS for a 6-0 lead. Her only hit on the day, Gonzalez shot went to the right field fence for an Rbi-triple.
Tacking on another run in the bottom of the fourth, Monache entered the sixth inning with a 7-0 lead. On a two-out rally, Rivas’ hit to shallow left was dropped between a triangle of Titans’ players to bring in two runs. In the next at-bat, Hunter’s Rbi-double brought in the game-ending run.
“I was actually last in the lineup, second-to-last in the lineup,” Monache’s top hitter of the day, Correa, said. “They told me today that I was going to be moved up, so a little pressure, especially in a playoff game but I did my job. Three-for-3, that’s not my bad for my junior year.”
Monache combined for 11 hits off Frontier’s Hailey Adams. Correa went 3-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored while senior Jessenia Castillo was 2-for-3 with three runs scored and a walk, and senior Jasmin Castillo went 2-for-3 with two RBIS and a run scored. The team also finished with a total of seven RBIS, all between the No. 4-9 hitters.
“My hitting coach Scottie (Ponciano) does a good job working these girls [at] different speeds and that’s exactly what he’s done,” Koontz said. “We work at speed. To be honest we worked at speed all season long. We didn’t practice hitting slow pitchers, we practiced hitting fast and then we adjust. That’s philosophy.”
The confidence that Koontz has in his team is a mindset the players have adopted as well. And even though some of them may still be a little nervous, they’re ready for the next, bigger game.
“I am pumped,” Correa said. “I am a little nervous for Bullard. Bullard’s better than the team we played today. That right there is going to be a tough challenge but [with] our defense, our offense and our pitcher, I think we have it in the bag.”