Amador Valley advances
Danielle Williams can sense the finish line. That might be bad news for the rest of the North Coast Section Division 1 softball teams.
The Amador Valley-Pleasanton senior pitcher fired a no-hitter with 20 strikeouts as the fourth-seeded Dons (21-5-1) defeated Mount Eden-Hayward 9-0 in a first-round NCS D1 game Wednesday.
Williams would have had her first perfect game of the season, but a two-out error on a bunt in the seventh ended it. Williams, a Northwestern commit, struck out the final batter to finish the masterpiece, her 21st shutout of the season.
“She really had it rolling,” Amador Valley coach Teresa Borchard said. “That was a lot of fun.”
Missing the perfect game was disappointing, but Borchard said Williams was unflappable.
“She came off the diamond smiling and laughing,” Borchard said. “She’s such an amazing kid.”
She came into the season with a 61-8 career record, with 566 strikeouts in 477 innings and an 0.68 ERA.
Williams, whose sister Krista played four years at Northwestern, has been even more dominant as a senior.
The Dons lost three close games to Southern California foes at the Michelle Carew Classic before back-to-back losses to crosstown rival Foothill, The Chronicle’s top-ranked team, in the past two weeks.
That set the second-ranked Dons reeling, all the way to the fourth seed, which raised some eyebrows. Top-three seeds Freedom-Oakley, Foothill and Heritage all got first-round byes.
On Wednesday, besides the pitching brilliance of Williams, Amador Valley managed 10 hits. The Dons were largely shut down by Foothill’s Nicole May in losses of 1-0 and 8-0.
“That’s OK,” Borchard said of the fourth seed. “This was a good mental boost for the team. We hit much better today and made some adjustments. The kids are fired up.”
Amador Valley next hosts Castro Valley (17-8), a 10-6 winner over Clayton Valley-Concord, in Friday’s quarterfinal.
James Logan-Union City 6, Alhambra Martinez 1: Tyavana Salazar had a key tworun single, Aliyah Yates a run-scoring single and Olivia Cazares a triple, leading the seventhseeded Colts (19-4) to the home victory. The win was the 670th (against 161 defeats) for coach Teri Johnson, who is retiring after 32 seasons. Logan won its 22nd league crown under Johnson this month. The Colts travel to second-seed Heritage on Friday.
Casa Grande-Petaluma 1, Antioch 0: In D2 play, sophomore Katie Humphreys threw a three-hitter with 12 strikeouts and Megan Bendik scored the go-ahead in the top of the seventh on a two-out error as 14th-seeded Casa Grande (16-7) shocked the fourth-seeded Panthers (19-6).
Antioch got a brilliant pitching performance from senior starter Ayanna Sanchez, who struck out nine and allowed three hits.
Casa Grande advances to the quarterfinals to face the Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland versus Northgate-Walnut Creek winner.
It was a disappointing ending to a superb season for Antioch, which hadn’t won 19 games since 2009. The Panthers had won 32 games the previous three years.
“When you get to the playoffs, every team is more than capable and only one emerges the champion,” Antioch coach Nick Wisely said. “It’s hard for the season to end and not go to practice tomorrow, but we had a great year. I’m so excited about the future.”