‘Built for this’: Central Catholic softball edges Manteca 1-0 in D-III semifinals
Taryn Calderon knows her job as the leadoff hitter for the Central Catholic softball team is to get on base. And this postseason, she’s had no problems doing it.
In her three postseason games, the UNLV-bound third baseman has six hits in eight at bats, has scored four runs and has a pair of RBI and a pair of doubles. She also stole three bases against Vista del Lago and stole two more in Tuesday’s Sac-Joaquin Section Division III semifinals against Manteca.
“I’ve felt more pressure to perform, but I haven’t raised my standards. My standards for myself have always been high,” Calderon said. “It’s playoffs and it’s my senior year and I want to make it all the way to the end and play as many games as I can.”
She spends the majority of her time in scoring position whether she hits a double, a triple or hits a single and shortly after steals second base.
Then she relies on her teammates.
Shortstop and No. 2 hitter Samantha Nichols’ job is to put the ball in play and move her over to third. If Calderon can’t score on a Nichols hit, the Raiders’ third hitter, Arizona State-bound Jazmarie Roberts, or fourth hitter, Sacramento State commit Madison Harrison, usually drives her in.
“When you have each person getting on and possibly moving the runner over … those runs are going to score,” said Calderon, who led off the bottom of the first with a double. “We don’t expect a big hit, especially early in the game, we just want people to get on.
That’s exactly how it happened Tuesday in the bottom of the third inning. Calderon led off the inning with a walk, stole second and advanced to third base on a Nichols groundout. She scored the only run of the Raiders’ 1-0 win on a Roberts single to left field one batter later. The RBI was Roberts’ 55th on the season, good for eighth in California.
“We’re built for this,” head coach Sam Nichols said. “We were battle-tested early, we’ve played in 1-0 ballgames, we’ve come from behind. Lately, we’ve had large margins of victory, but the pressure doesn’t get to them.”
The Raiders will take on No. 2 Vanden on Saturday at 4 p.m. in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III championship at Cosumnes River College.
Pitcher praises ‘awesome defense’
They say a double play is a pitcher’s best friend. Raiders sophomore starter Stephanie Garcia would definitely agree. She would likely also welcome Roberts, Harrison and Brooklyn Nicholls into that friend group with open arms.
With no outs in the top of the sixth inning and the bases loaded, Manteca was poised to take the lead and possibly break the game open. The Raiders needed to make a play.
With Garcia ahead 1-2 in the count, she forced a ground ball to Roberts at second base. The senior fired the ball home to Harrison, a junior standing on home, who then relayed a throw to the sophomore Nicholls at first to complete the 4-2-3 double play.
“I just wanted to run and jump on (Roberts),” Garcia said. “I love her so much. … It definitely felt like more of a relief because there were two outs.”
Garcia immediately forced a fly out to end the inning and kept Manteca scoreless in the top of the seventh, despite the Buffaloes getting runners to second and third. The win marked Garcia’s third straight postseason shutout.
The sophomore has continued to improve since her first season, making jumps in the spin of her pitches and hitting pitch locations at a higher clip. Those are just two of the reasons Garcia is in the top 20 in the section in wins (15) and boasts a career-best 2.53 earned run average. The other, she said, is the defense behind her.
“Honestly, I have to be grateful for my awesome defense,” she said. “Because without them, I wouldn’t be the pitcher I am. They find ways to motivate me.”
The Raiders are in familiar territory. They’ve been here the past three years.
They went to the Division III section title game in 2022 and 2023 and played for the D-IV title last season. The seniors, Calderon and Roberts, have been here for all of them and Calderson says she feels something is different about this team. The duo are facing their first blue banner.
“The camaraderie we have is great,” Calderon said. “And we really took our performance level up a notch this year.”
While their first two games were blowout wins, the Raiders knew this game would be closer. This is their third time playing Manteca this season, as they played the Buffaloes twice during the regular season in Valley Oak League play. Each situation that arose in Tuesday’s game, they practiced, getting repetitions turning the double plays and working on the base running ahead of time so when they needed it, they knew they prepared.
“We did it yesterday,” Nichols said of the bases-loaded situation. “We work on every single scenario and when it presents itself in a game, we’ve done it. So it’s not a surprise. It was just a matter of playing simply.”
Because they advanced to the D-III championship game, they also earned a berth to the CIF State Northern California Regional playoffs. Brackets will be announced Sunday, June 1, and the opening round is Tuesday, June 3.
Saturday, they’ll take on a Vanden team coming off a dominant 13-5 semifinals win over No. 3 Ponderosa. The Vikings beat No. 15 Christian Brothers 12-2 in the first round and No. 10 West Park 5-1 in the quarterfinals.
This story was originally published May 21, 2025 at 8:38 AM.
