Foothill, Amador Valley meet for D-I title
It will be an all East Bay Athletic League affair Saturday at Diablo Valley College when Foothill and Amador Valley tangle for the North Coast Section Division I softball championship.
The Pleasanton powers earned the right tomeet for the fourth time this season when No. 3 seed Foothill (24-3) beat second-seeded Heritage 2- 0 on Wednesday in Brentwood while fourth-seeded Amador Valley (22- 5-1) took care of No. 1 seed Freedom 3- 0 a few miles away in Oakley. The final is scheduled to start at noon.
Foothill was led by hard-throwing Nicole May, the sophomore right-hander who has been committed to Oklahoma since before her freshman season. She sailed through the first six innings, allowing only an infield single in the first to Heritage star Xiara Diaz before retiring 16 in a row.
But Morgan Hess opened the home half of the seventh by rolling a single into center, then Diaz singled to right. A force on a close play at third gave the Patriots (17- 4) runners at first and second with one out, but a baserunning gaffe allowed Foothill to get a weird double play to end the game. Heritage cleanup hitter Paige Sasser lifted a popup that was ruled an infield fly, meaning the batter was automatically out and those on base run at their own risk. When the infield pop fell untouched, Foothill got the final out by forcing one of the baserunners.
Foothill coachMatt Sweeney said he was hoping for anothermatchup with Amador Valley in the D-1 title game. Foothill won two of the three previous meetings, and Saturday’s game will pit May against Amador Valley senior Danielle Williams.
Other NCS finals
No. 4 seed Carondelet (19-8) and No. 6 seed Bishop O’Dowd (17-5) will play for the Division II title Saturday at 2:30 p.m., also at DVC. … In the Division III final, No. 2 seedMoreau Catholic (14-10) will play top seed MarinCatholic (21-5) onSaturday at 7 p.m. at SanMarin High. … In the Division IV final, Friday at 5 p.m. at Saint Mary’s College, No. 1 seed St. Joseph Notre Dame (21-2) will take on No. 2 seed Del Norte (22- 4).