Big Valley softball comes back to beat Stone Ridge, win first section title since 2016
When Stone Ridge Christian took a 3-2 lead over Big Valley Christian in the bottom of the third inning of the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division VII final, the Lions didn’t point fingers, hang their heads or let their disappointment linger.
They didn’t fold.
They came together. On defense, the team didn’t allow a run in the rest of the game. Timely hits in the top of the seventh inning helped Big Valley Christian storm back to beat the Knights 5-3 and secure its first section title since 2016.
“These girls never quit all year long,” said Lions coach Eric Layman. “There’s camaraderie on the team, they just keep fighting all the way through … they came together, they kept each other pumped up. That’s all them.”
They will await their seeding and opponent for the CIF Northern California Regional Playoffs.
Big Valley scored one run in the top of the first and third innings to take a 2-0 lead but Stone Ridge Christian, which is making its fourth straight section title game appearance, didn’t go away. Caitlyn Cole, Cali Cole, Amy Villa and Carissa Hoekstra sparked a three-run bottom of the third.
“I think I missed one of my pitches, but the other ones I didn’t miss, so they just had great hits,” Ava Hernandez said. “I was just thinking, ‘I might not be able to strike every one of these girls out but I need to make them ground out or pop up.’ Yeah, the pressure is on when they have the lead, but it was only the third inning. I had faith that our team would pull through.”
Said Layman: “When they scored, it was a little deflating, but these girls just fought. They kept themselves up and away we went.”
The Lions (20-6) waited until the last possible opportunity to turn Hernandez’s belief into reality.
They were held scoreless for four innings and, despite loading the bases in the top of the sixth, still trailed by one run until the seventh inning.
Anni Boren reached with a leadoff single, but two straight pop ups saw the Lions down to their final out with just one runner on base. Boren advanced to third on an Emily Avila single, setting the table for junior Trinity Beers in the next at bat.
Beers took advantage of the runner in scoring position, hitting a hard single on the ground past third base to drive in her third run of the game and even the game at 3-3. It was a timely hit that she admits might not have had the same outcome a few weeks ago.
“If it was towards the beginning of the season, I would have gotten up there and psyched myself out, like, ‘Oh, my goodness, there’s runners on and I need to get this hit, otherwise we’re gonna lose,’” Beers said. “All this stuff would have been going through my head, but as the season progressed, my coaches helped me kind of tune everything out.
“I was pretty stoked. This year, I’ve had a lot of pop flies and I’m finally starting to straighten my swing out. Just to see that my hit was not a pop fly was really exciting. And then I saw that the runner scored and I could hardly contain myself.”
With Beers on first and Avilla on second, freshman Cecily Fontana laced a two RBI double over the leaping Stone Ridge shortstop to the left-center field fence, clearing the bases and giving the Lions a 5-3 lead.
“It’s the best feeling in the world when stuff like that happens, especially in a close game like this against a great team like Stone Ridge,” Fontana said. “Honestly, nothing feels like that, it’s one of those adrenaline moments that you can’t get anywhere else. I wasn’t even looking at the scoreboard. I was just happy that I got a hit.”
Hernandez and the Big Valley defense held the Knights scoreless for the rest of the game. The sophomore pitcher closed out her eight-strikeout performance by striking out the side.
It was a season of ups, downs and growth for the Lions. Stone Ridge Christian (21-2) won the Central California Athletic Alliance League and beat Big Valley 3-2 en route to a perfect league record. They learned from their regular season mistakes to turn around what seemed like a tough championship game loss.
“It feels awesome … knowing that we finally accomplished our goal,” Hernandez said. “And it was in the biggest game it could have been in. It feels amazing.”
