Quarterfinals shutout sends Central Catholic softball to Tuesday’s D-III semifinal
Samantha Nichols wasn’t on the team the last time Central Catholic played Vista del Lago in the 2022 D-III section title game. But she was there.
As a seventh-grader, she watched as her dad, Sam Nichols, coached the Raiders through an up-and-down game that ended in a 7-5 loss. A lot has changed since then.
Nichols said her mindset has changed and she’s had to mature a lot. As someone who’s always been a lead-by-example player, she’s finding her way as a vocal leader on a team full of talent.
Among the sophomore class, she’s one of the best in the country, ranked ninth in her position by Extra Innings Softball. She plays for a premier travel ball team and has crossed the nation for some of the top tournaments in front of some of the college game’s top coaches.
And on Friday, with a single in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III quarterfinals, Nichols drove in Paige Perry for the final run in a 10-0, mercy-rule win over the Eagles to advance to the Sac-Joaquin Section semifinals for the fourth straight season.
Nichols already has had more college interest than the average high school softball player. Just this season, coaches from the University of Washington and UCLA have come to the Central Valley to watch her play. She admits it is stressful at times, but she has a few months until schools can officially offer her and she can make her official commitment. So in the meantime, she is focused on being the best teammate and shortstop she can be for the Raiders.
“I’m staying within myself and playing for my team,” she said.
In the Raiders’ playoff opener Wednesday, Nichols had two triples and a double and drove in two runs. Friday, in addition to driving in the last run, she once again collected multiple hits, a pair of singles and stole two bases.
Stephanie Garcia pitched her second straight playoff shutout Friday. UNLV signee Taryn Calderon went 3-for-4 and stole three bases, sophomore Ceriah Fitzhugh had a triple and drove in three runs, Carsyn Lomeli went 2-for-2 and Amaya Gustavis walked twice in another all-around dominant performance in the 2025 postseason. The Raiders scored 10 runs on 10 hits.
“In the Tracy tournament, we lost and I feel like that made us refocus and realize that every team has a chance to beat us,” Samantha Nichols said. “But to win, we just have to stay within ourselves, focus and play to the best of our ability.”
Every player who recorded a plate appearance reached base at least once, and all but one came around to score.
Over their first two playoff games this season, the Raiders have outscored their opponents 28-0 through 10 total innings. Gustavis drove in the game’s first run in the bottom of the second inning, scoring Lomeli, who singled and then stole second. Central Catholic scored twice in the second, four times in the third, three times in the fourth and once in the fifth.
“They’re playing free. I’m not giving them a bunch of rules,” Sam Nichols said. “The trust that they have in each other, you can see they’re trying to do it for their teammates and they’re having fun playing.”
For the third time in four years, the Raiders will play a Valley Oak League team in the section semifinals. The last two times, it was Oakdale they beat to reach the 2022 and 2023 D-III championship games.
This year, they will see Manteca for a third time this season. The Buffaloes, who beat Oakdale in Friday’s quarterfinals, have not beaten Central Catholic this season. The Raiders won their home matchup 3-1, then traveled to Manteca a month later and won 8-0. Since 2021, Central Catholic is 8-1 against the Buffaloes. But it’s hard to beat a good team three times in the same season.
Sam Nichols acknowledges that as they advance, their opponents get tougher and their next wins might not look like shutouts or dominant performances. But he is confident in the team’s ability to perform because of its mindset.
“We have an us versus us mentality,” he said, “and we’re just trying to be the best version of ourselves. We’ve kind of removed who we’re playing against and everyone’s concentrated on doing their job. Making the pitch, making the play, getting that hit when our team needs it.”
Softball Quarterfinals
Division III
No. 4 Manteca 8, No. 5 Oakdale 1: In a quarterfinal matchup between VOL foes, Manteca came to play. Oakdale scored a run in the opening inning when Katee Conde drove in Jayci Volonte. The Mustangs did not score for the rest of the game despite two hits with a double by Audrey Romiti. Manteca scored six runs in the bottom of the second inning and added two more in the bottom of the sixth.
Division IV
No. 2 Pioneer 4, No. 7 Beyer 0: Beyer gave up only two runs in the first and two in the fourth, but pitching from the No. 2 team in the division was too much. Jia Beebe allowed just three hits and struck out five batters for Pioneer in the shutout effort. AnnMarie Scott, Audrina Urias and Mckenna Kimoto produced hits for Beyer.
Division V
No. 1 Casa Roble 8, No. 8 Hughson 0: Hughson could produce only three hits in Friday’s quarterfinals matchup against D-V top seed Casa Roble. Sophomore pitcher Kylie Tangney pitched six innings and though she allowed eight hits and four runs, she also struck out 12 batters.
No. 3 Livingston 2, No. 6 Ripon 1: Ripon tallied three extra-base hits (two doubles, one triple) and looked like it would escape with a 1-0 victory after Ava Hernandez drove in Mikayla Dietrich in the fourth inning. Livingston did not answer until the sixth inning, but the two runs driven in by Elizabeth Avila decided the game.
Division VI
No. 13 Colfax 9, No. 5 Hilmar 6: The Yellowjackets were upset at home by No. 13 Colfax, which won its second straight road playoff game. Hilmar fell behind 7-1 after four and a half innings, but scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth to cut into the lead. The Yellowjackets outscored the Falcons 3-2 in the final two innings but could not cut into the lead enough to advance.
No. 6 Big Valley Christian 7, No. 3 Buckingham Charter 2: Senior Cecily Fontana has led the way for the Lions through the regular season and Friday, she led her team to a road upset win with three RBI and a pair of hits. Three Lions doubled and Ella Alavezos and Emily Flora also drove in runs. Brynn MacWilliams finished with a game-high three hits and Madyx Mitchell also had two hits. Mitchell allowed just one hit and struck out 12 batters. The Lions advance to the quarterfinals, where they face second-seed Le Grand on the road.
Stanislaus District Semifinals Matchups: Tuesday, May 20
Division III
No. 1 Central Catholic vs No. 4 Manteca
Division VI
No. 2 Le Grand vs No. 6 Big Valley Christian
This story was originally published May 17, 2025 at 9:10 AM.
