Metro-best St. Francis ready to be tested on national stage
The St. Francis softball team erased one major blemish on its 2023 season and this week, it aims to correct another.
The Lancers (7-0), the Chronicle’s No. 1 team and No. 3 in California according to SBLive Sports, won 7-1 at state No. 2 Hollister on Saturday behind three hits, two RBIs and a five-hitter from Kate Munnerlyn.
Thanks also to a double, homer and three RBIs from senior Shannon Keighran, St. Francis topped Hollister, which beat the Lancers a year ago in the Central Coast Section Open Division and Northern California Division 1 championship games.
The Lancers were shutout in both, but on Saturday, they had 11 hits, including two from sophomore Jaime Oakland, who is 13for-20. The team’s big power hitter is junior Hayden Hummel (four home runs, 16 RBIs).
St. Francis, 162-26 since Mike Oakland took over the program in 2018, is hitting .438 through seven games. The pitching tandem of Munnerlyn, a Texas A&M signee, and Keighran (Boise State) is a combined 7-0 with an 0.34 ERA in 41 innings. The two have combined to strike out 66.
It will take all their best efforts to win the Michelle Carew Classic in Anaheim, where 10 of the nation’s top 11 ranked teams will play, including No. 1 Pacifica-Garden Grove (12-0) and defending champion Los Alamitos (13-3).
Los Alamitos defeated St. Francis 4-2 in the championship game last season. The Lancers, ranked 16tth nationally by SBLive Sports, open tournament play Thursday against Otay Ranch-Chula Vista (2-6).
Wild one: In one of the crazier softball games of the week, No. 9 hitter Tanaya Barrett went 4-for-5 with two doubles, a home run and three RBIs, leading Dublin to an 18-13 East Bay Athletic League win over previous No. 4 FoothillPleasanton, which got home runs from Kaycie Burdick, Marissa Anderson and Naima Braham.
Down 9-2, Foothill tied it in the fourth with seven runs, Dublin countered with four in the fifth, matched by the Falcons in the sixth, before the visiting Gaels answered with five more in the seventh. Arianna Cooper and AJ Avelar also drove in three runs each for Dublin.
The teams combined for 32 hits, 11 for extra bases.
Baseball catch-up: Valley Christian fell from the top spot after two losses last week, 6-3 to Sacred Heart Cathedral and 1-0 to Brophy College Prep-Phoenix. The Warriors also beat SHC 6-2 and Mt. Carmel-Ill. (8-3).
Granada-Livermore (10-0), after winning three games by a combined 13-1 count, moved into the No. 1 spot.
Baseball leaders: San Mateo catcher and shortstop Aaron Wong is second in the CCS in RBIs with 20, and SHC first baseman Tate Medicoff and Serra catcher Ian Armstrong are tied for fifth with 17. Medicoff leads the CCS with six home runs. Los Altos infielder Channing Hautop has five. South San Francisco’s Giovanni Bernal is second in pitching strikeouts with 47 and Mountain View’s Wes Harwell is third with 46.
Petaluma’s Aiden Jones leads the North Coast Section with four homers, and Albany teammates Teo Thompson and Evan Carubba-Rice have three. Bay School infielder Everett Beadling leads the NCS in RBIs (18). Foothill infielder Landson Comerford and San Lorenzo first baseman Isac Mendoza are tied for second with 17. St. PatrickSt. Vincent-Vallejo shortstop already has 19 stolen bases and 21 runs, both NCS-leading totals.
Softball leaders: Hummel is tied with Notre Dame-Belmont’s Skylar Loo, Hillsdale-San Mateo’s Claire Shelton and GunnPalo Alto’s Tess Bogar for sixth in CCS with 16 RBIs each. Mitty’s Kyleigh Mace leads the section with eight pitching wins. April Price (Milpitas) and Averie Lopez (Santa Clara) are tied for second with 16 stolen bases apiece.
In NCS, Anderson leads the way with 26 RBIs. San Leandro’s Marina Sacrey is second (23). San Rafael’s Sophia Everett has hit five home runs to grab the top spot and Hercules’ Bella Placencia is the leader in stolen bases (18) in 19 attempts. Foothill’s Paige Bennett is the season leader in wins (7) and San Rafael’s Thomara Drummer in strikeouts (118).