Versatile Tatro earns 1 final win
Pinole Valley’s steady ace, offensive star adds top honor after title-winning season
Pinole Valley senior pitcher Kailani Tatro fielded the comebacker, threw to first baseman Milanya Rosales and the celebration was on, filled with hugs, tears and utter joy.
The 6-1 North Coast Section Division 3 championship-game victory over Encinal-Alameda at Diablo Valley College erased a painful semifinal loss the previous season to San Rafael and also highlighted a long, exhaustive and decorated prep career for Tatro, The Chronicle’s 2023 All-Metro Softball Player of the Year.
The 5-foot-4 senior pitched nearly every inning of every game throughout her four-year career — her freshman season was cut to six games by the pandemic, which also abbreviated the next season to 23 games. She finished this season 29-2 with a 0.77 ERA and 277 strikeouts.
In all, she powered through 529 innings in an 87-game career (winning 74), compiling a 1.34 ERA with 783 strikeouts, 393 hits allowed and 93 walks. And that’s just the half of it. She put up gaudy hitting numbers this season as well: .538 average, 49 hits, 22 doubles, four homers and 41 RBIs. The career stats: 149 hits in 277 career at-bats (.537), 73 runs, 130 RBIs, 53 doubles, four triples and 12 home runs. Whew.
Needless to say, the Robert Morris University- signee has been the focal point of the Spartans’ revival that featured 76 wins and only 12 losses since 2020.
So when her team secured the program’s fourth section title and first since 2009, emotions ran rampant. At one point, Tatro made a beeline and embraced shortstop Melina Mendoza, a teammate and pal since the seventh grade.
“Emotions were flying everywhere,” Tatro said.
“Happy emotions. I remember trying to keep my composure to make sure we got the final out. But after that, there was hugging and jumping and running around. We all put so much into softball. There are so many sacrifices we make and so many memories made.”
It’s bigger than a game for Tatro. It’s family.
Her dad Jason has been Pinole Valley’s head coach the past four seasons. He tutored his daughter when she first picked up a softball at age 4. When she was 6, Jason built a mound in the back yard.
A pitcher was born.
A former basketball and baseball player at Pinole Valley, Contra Costa College and San Francisco State, Jason experienced the benefits of organized sports and passed it to his daughter. The amount of pitches he caught is countless, he said, and the memories are priceless.
“It’s been some of the best times of my life,” he said, his voice cracking slightly. “Of course, we had our struggles. There’s been bickering and fighting, but all of it is worth it. She worked her butt off.”
He noted that Kailani isn’t the hardest thrower — she tops out at 58-61 mph — but she’s mastered how to spin and locate. “Everyone at the next level can hit the high-speed fastball,” Jason said. “She’s the Greg Maddux of softball. She just wins.”
Dad, of course, helped her master a variety of pitches: the change, curve, rise and drop balls. But the connection runs deeper.
“He got me into softball, and he’s been there every step of the way,” Keilani said. “He’s been my catcher since Day 1. Thinking of all the sacrifices he made for me, all the places I’ve ever been and now I get to go to college, it makes me emotional. I can’t thank him enough.”
A 3.8 student, Kailani said winning awards and even championships are secondary to what the game has taught her.
“Learning how to win, learning from failures, making so many new friends — softball and pitching has made me the person I am,” she said. “It’s what I love. It’s made me a better person.”
Regional Players of the Year San Francisco — Danielle Cote (Sacred Heart Cathedral):
The fourth-year letterman was at the center of SHC’s best season in 10 years, earning first-team All-West Catholic Athletic League honors after hitting a team-best .486 with 35 hits — 21 for extra bases — with 33 RBIs. The pitcher and catcher was also 5-5 on the mound with a 1.94 ERA. She allowed 61 hits and struck out 67 in 79 1⁄3 innings.
Peninsula — Ainsley Waddell (Sequoia-Redwood City):
The senior slugger and pitcher was dominant for a third straight year on the mound and at the
plate for the Ravens (18-6). The UC Santa Barbara-signee led the team with a .595 average with 44 hits, 25 RBIs, 13 doubles, a triple and four home runs. She also was 17-5 on the mound with a Central Coast Section-high 254 strikeouts and a 1.49 ERA. Her high school career numbers: 44-10 with a 1.54 ERA and a .568 average with 80 RBIs and 12 home runs.
Contra Costa/Tri-Valley — Paige McLeod (San Ramon Valley-Danville):
The Illinois State-bound pitcher was the East Bay Athletic League Player of the Year after going 15-6 with a 0.89 ERA and 220 strikeouts in 196 2⁄3 innings. She also hit .326 with 30 hits, 21 RBIs, five doubles and six home runs for the fifth-ranked Wolves (23-7).
North Bay — Jamie McGaughey and Lila Partridge (Casa Grande):
McGaughey was the Most Valuable Player and Partridge the Pitcher of the Year in the Vine Valley Athletic League, leading the No. 7 Gauchos (25-5) to a North Coast Section Division 2 title, the school’s third overall but first since 2001. McGaughey, a senior third baseman, hit .438 with 11 homers and 39 RBIs. Partridge, a sophomore, hit .500 with 10 homers and 38 RBIs and went 14-2 with a 1.64 ERA.
SBLive Sports senior editor Mitch Stephens covers high school sports for The San Francisco Chronicle. Email: mitch@scorebooklive.com