Prep softball: Vista del Lago claims first title with win over Central Catholic
The Vista del Lago softball team always believed it could play with anyone.
It didn’t matter that the Eagles were an inexperienced team with just three seniors or that they were given the fourth seed going into the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III playoffs. The Eagles were looking for the chance to prove they had what it took to get it done.
They beat the first overall seed, Vanden, in the semifinals. That left the second-seeded Raiders of Central Catholic and Cal Berkeley commit Randi Roelling in the Eagles’ way.
Hot bats and capitalizing on timely errors in the third and fourth innings helped the Eagles secure a 7-5 victory Saturday, capping a 24-4-1 season with the program’s first section championship.
“We have a great team and we all have known it … we said at the beginning, we’re like, ‘This is a special team. We can see ourselves winning a section championship,’” said Eagles coach Julie Lazar. “we beat the number one seed, we beat the number two seed, so we’re hoping for a good seed when it comes to the state tournament.”
Central Catholic opened the game’s scoring in the bottom of the first inning as Adison Machado scored on an error. Vista del Lago wasn’t down for long as the Eagles exploded for a combined seven runs in the third and fourth innings.
Senior Tayler Biehl got on base with a one-out triple and after a Raiders error and an infield single, the Eagles were in position to break the game open with the bases loaded. A sacrifice fly from pitcher Charlize Cai scored Biehl and moved the other two runners up 60 feet. With runners on second and third, Morgan Sweet drove a high pitch over the left centerfield fence for a three-run shot to put the Eagles ahead 4-1.
“I was like, ‘I’m just gonna go up there, swing, and see what happens,’” Sweet said. “Just clear my mind because so many things are going on. So once you clear your mind, you just see ball, hit ball, keep it simple, and it just went.”
Cai pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the third, quickly bringing the Eagles’ hot bats up in the top of the fourth and they didn’t disappoint.
After a leadoff walk, an Allison Morrissey bunt and Biehl single, Vista del Lago had the bases loaded once again. The Eagles scored three runs in the inning after Olivia Manchester walked home a run and Sammy Smith drove home a run with a sacrifice fly. Biehl scored the inning’s final run on a heads up play after confusion from the Central Catholic defense.
“I wish we would have scored more often, but that’s our timely hitting right there,” Biehl said. “I’ll take just two innings of big big runs. Everyone believed in each other and we made some chaos happen and stuff that didn’t go their way went our way. It didn’t need to be a whole game but those innings were good for sure.”
The Raiders scored two runs in the fourth after an Emori Machado home run and two more in the fifth to make it a 7-5 game, but any hope of tying the game was shut down by the Eagles defense. With a runner on first in the sixth, Rubie Kelly snagged a line drive at second and flipped the ball behind the advancing runner for her second double play of the game. The Raiders’ last-ditch effort in the bottom of the seventh started with a two-out single, then promptly ended with a fly out in the next at bat.
“Looking at us on paper, we’re not the greatest defense in the whole world, but we just honestly have confidence in each other,” Biehl said. “We know play-to-play … we’re going to keep the game simple, really believe in each other and back each other up.”
The youth never fazed them, the seeding never discouraged them and now the Eagles take their section title and a four-game winning streak into Tuesday’s Northern California Regional tournament.
“The girls kind of motivate themselves and each other and so I think if anything, it’s a confidence boost where it’s like, ‘We believe we can play with anyone and now we have the opportunity to prove it’ and they’re just excited,” Lazar said. “I’m excited to see what’s next for us.”
Biehl, a University of Arizona signee, ended her season on the highest of highs as the section title was her final game in an Eagles jersey. While the team heads into the Northern California Regional tournament, she will be tending to other duties as a bridesmaid in her aunt’s destination wedding. She’ll be cheering from afar.
“It’s nice to go out on a high note with this,” Biehl said. “So, now, I’m just gonna root my team on and I have all the confidence in them to get the job done.”
This story was originally published May 29, 2022 at 6:14 AM.
