Vacaville Christian softball overwhelms Ripon Christian

In the opening round of the Sac-Joaquin Division VII Section softball playoffs, No.3 seeded Vacaville Christian High defeated No. 6 Ripon Christian High in front of its home crowd Tuesday, 17-6.

After trading runs back and forth, the Falcons led the Knights (6-12) going into the middle innings, 6-5. Highlighted by an 8-run bottom of the fourth, the Falcons extended their lead and outscored the Knights 11-1 to end the game victorious.

The Falcons were led offensively by junior Emerson Meggers, who went 4-for-5 with three doubles and a triple, while knocking in five runs. Freshman Lexi Martinez (4-for-5, double) and Tayla Stonebraker (3-for-3, triple) each had three RBI's.

The Falcons (9-4) are on the road on Thursday when they take on the No. 2-seeded Big Valley Christian Lions in Modesto. VANDEN 18, ROSEMONT 0 >> In front of its home crowd on Tuesday, the No.1 seed Vanden softball team defeated the No.16 Rosemont Wolverines in the opening round of the Sac-Joaquin Division III Section playoffs, 18-0 as pitcher Hazyl Gray threw a perfect game.

The Vikings started off red hot in the bottom of the first, scoring nine runs in the bottom of the first inning, and then repeating their offensive momentum with another nine runs in the bottom of the third.

Meanwhile, Gray pitched five innings and struck out 11 while not allowing a baserunner.

The Vikings offensively were led by sophomore Mia Zabat, who went 3-for-3 with two triples, knocked in six runs. Senior Cassandra Zapata went 1-for-3, with a three-run home run, Gray, junior Aniya Lawson, senior Keira Calahan and Shawnese Hogue-Lacy all had two RBI's a piece.

The Vikings (19-0) are set to return to their home diamond on Thursday when they are set to host the No. 8 Los Banos Tigers. ROSEVILLE 6, VACAVILLE 0 >> The No.13 seeded Vacaville High softball team returnec from the road in defeat on Tuesday when they fell short against No. 4 seed Roseville in the opening round of the Sac-Joaquin Division II Section softball playoffs, 6-0.

The Tigers (20-7) were the first to get a run across when they scored three in the bottom of the second. That was followed by another run in the fourth, and two more in the fifth. The Bulldogs (14-13) weren't able to spark any offensive momentum as they were only held to three hits the entire game. Those hits came from freshman Hayden Kyne, Allyson Walling and senior Helena Pendergraft.

WOODLAND CHRISTIAN 6, BUCKINGHAM CHARTER 0 >> In the opening round of the Sac-Joaquin Division VI Section softball playoffs, No. 8 Buckingham Charter fell short on the road against top-seeded Woodland Christian (23-3) in a shutout on Tuesday, 6-0.

The Knights complete their season with an 11-7 overall record and a 9-1 record in league play.