Upland wins D2 title with walk-off home run

IRVINE >> Emily Capobianco felt “pretty” confident as the ball flew off her bat in the bottom of the ninth inning but by the time she reached second base, she was certain of what the Upland softball team had just accomplished.

The junior catcher belted a walk-off home run over the fence in left with one out to lift Upland to a 1-0 victory against Villa Park in a dramatic CIF Southern Section Division 2 championship game at Deanna Manning Stadium on Saturday.

Capobianco turned on a 1-2 pitch, an inside riseball from recently-crowned Gatorade state player of the year Sydney Somerndike, to ignite a wild celebration and make a winner of Oregon State-bound pitcher Sarah Haendiges.

“It’s a crazy feeling,” said Capobianco, who went 2 for 3 from the No. 6 spot in the order. “It’s kind of indescribable but I’m so glad it happened and I’m so glad I was with all these girls doing it.”

No. 2-seeded Villa Park (24-3) identified Capobianco as a dangerous hitter before the game, and she looked confident against Somerndike (24-3), drawing a walk, singling and grounding out to second before her before she launched her third homer of the playoffs.

She said she grew more confident after teammates Marissa Caballero and Shady Armendariz fouled off pitches in the eighth. Armendariz fouled off at least four pitches in the eighth before a long drive was caught by left fielder Halle Smith.

“We were on her,” Capobianco said of Somerndike, who didn’t surrender a hit until one out in the fifth and struck out 13. “I was looking riseball. I was looking more outside but when she came inside, I knew that was my pitch so I swung.”

Haendiges (14-2) was the co-hero for No. 4 seed Upland (25-2) as she used her best changeup of the season, according to Capobianco, en route to 10 strikeouts. She scattered seven hits — five of which were infield singles — to outduel Somerndike, an Arizona-committed junior.

While Haendiges said she and her teammates nearly “attacked” Capobianco too early for the celebration at home plate, her timing was perfect in the circle against Villa Park and Somerndike.

“I came in with a chip on my shoulder,” she said. “I was not letting her out-pitch me. I was going to bring whatever she was bringing and more. That was my mindset.”

“She’s been so big in the big situations all season,” Upland coach Sarah Farnworth said of Haendiges. “All my seniors had a vision. They had a game plan . ... Nothing was going to stand in their way.”

Haendiges said the Highlanders were motivated after losing in the first round of the Division 1 playoffs in 2018 and 2019. The team was off to a strong start in 2020 before the pandemic shutdown.