Lopez's shot puts Notre Dame in final
NICOLAUS >> JulieAnn Lopez noticed the infielders moving around with each pitch. She saw the outfield shift after a strike.
Taking mental notes from three previous at-bats, the Notre Dame Highslugger believed she knew what pitch she was about to see.
“It was obvious to me at that point where the ball was going to be,” Lopez said. “I knew it was coming inside. All I was thinking is foot down and drive it as far as I can.”
An estimated 215-foot blast off the bat of Lopez sailed over the left field fence Thursday, breaking up a scoreless battle in the eighth inning, lifting the Spirits to a 3-0 win over East Nicolaus in Sutter County in the Northern California Division II softball semifinals.
“My thoughts are all over the place,” said Lopez, who hit a pair of homers in Notre Dame's Central Coast Section Division I semifinal win over Carlmont. “I knew my pitcher was tired. It was time to back her up.”
On the heels of the program's CCS record 17th section title last week, the Spirits will play for their first Northern California title Saturday, visiting Division III top seed Willow Glen of San Jose — 1-0 winners over Bullard — at 4 p.m.
The two teams are no strangers to each other, having played a nonleague game on May 1, with Willow Glen (23-7) holding on for a 7-5 win.
Champions of the Mount Hamilton Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League, the Rams reached the CCS Open Division semifinals before falling to nationally-ranked St. Francis of Mountain View.
“It's a chance for redemption,” said Lopez, who will play softball next year at Hiram College, which is outside Cleveland, Ohio. “I remember playing the game Monday up there. It wasn't our best showing.”
The Spirits (22-7) postseason run has seen them shutout four of their five opponents behind a dynamic defense and the arm of sophomore Sophia Cardinale, who held East Nicolaus to four hits.
“This should make for a nice drive home,” Lopez said. “We're tired. It was a fourhour drive. If you're going to come all the way up here, at least make it worthwhile.”
Lopez's dramatics came after taking a strike with two outs. With the way Cardinale was dealing, her feeling was one run would be enough.
“All I am thinking is hit it anywhere in the gap,” Lopez said.
Instead, the senior third baseman sent a rocket down the left field line that sailed over the fence, scoring Samantha Rey and Brianna Padilla to create hysteria in the dugout.
“At that point, I said we still have to go out there and hold them,” Lopez said.
Cardinale, who had just one strikeout — 37 in the playoffs — turned to her defense to get the final three outs and give Notre Dame one more practice together.
The Spartans came into the game with a 29-1 record, having gone a school record 25 games without a loss earlier in the year behind the arm of Meika Lauppe, who is headed to Arizona State on a softball scholarship.
“That was one of the hardest throwing pitchers we've faced,” Lopez said. “We were hitting her. We had runners on base. We just couldn't bunch any hits together.”
Notre Dame is used to pressure situations in the playoffs, having beaten Branham 1-0 in the CCS quarterfinals and Westmont 2-0 in the title game.
Cardinale, who had 13 strikeouts in the Spirits' Northern California playoff-opening win over Inderkum, has become a big game pitcher for the Spirits, having allowed just two runs in 33 innings in the postseason.
Division V
NORTH SALINAS 11, STONE RIDGE CHRISTIAN 1 >> The highest-scoring team in the postseason put up 11 more runs to advance to the Northern California Division V championship game.
North Salinas (15-12) will face a former Tri-County Athletic League rival when it travels to Morgan Hill to face top seed Live Oak — 10-0 winners over Los Molinos — Saturday at 4 p.m.
The two teams did meet on March 4 in the Circle of Champions tournament, with Live Oak holding on for a 5-4 win.