FOLSOM, Calif. – Senior right-hander Hope Jenkins struck out 14 batters in a complete-game victory and delivered the first of back-to-back solo home runs in the second inning to lead St. Francis to a 2-1 win over Folsom in the varsity half of a non-league prep softball doubleheader at Folsom High Tuesday afternoon. Meanwhile, the Troubadour junior varsity suffered its first loss in heartbreaking fashion, falling by a 6-5 final on a walk-off sacrifice fly.
St. Francis varsity moves to 7-1 overall while its JV squad slips to 6-1 for the year.
Jenkins and junior first baseman Isabelle Vela led off the top of the second with solo shots against starter Kiley Shea, who then turned the pitching circle over to senior ace and UC Riverside commit Emma Falen, who held the Troubies to just one hit – a Kayla Garber single – the rest of the way.
Fortunately for St. Francis, Jenkins was equally dominant, fanning the side in the second and fifth innings and scattering four hits. The only blemish on the scorecard came in the sixth, when Folsom senior left fielder Cristina Jones launched a first-pitch, one-out solo homer. That marked the first time since March 15 that the future UConn Husky had allowed a run, ending a streak of 18.2 innings.
In seven appearances, Jenkins has whiffed 93 batters in 48 innings for a whopping rate of 13.56 strikeouts per seven. That streak features three no-hitters, including the perfect game at Pioneer last Friday.
The St. Francis jayvees were not quite as fortunate defensively, surrendering three in the bottom of the seventh to fall by the one-run margin. Hailey Strange hit 3-for-4 with a triple and a double, Natalie Vigil finished 2-for-4 with a leadoff homer in the sixth, and Taylor Trafican offered a single and a double at the plate.
Vigil drove in a pair of runs with a two-out single in the first, before the Bulldogs equalized in their bottom half of the second. Strange's triple in the fourth resulted in the go-ahead at 3-2. The Troubies extended the lead to 4-3 when Maggie Leonard delivered a pinch-hit double, then scored on a Trafican sacrifice fly. Vigil's shot in the sixth further padded the advantage to 5-3.
However, Folsom rallied immediately in the seventh. Corner infielders Kasey McAtee and Aliyah Dugars led off with consecutive singles, then catcher Brook Digiorno followed with a double. Mallory Giddens grounded out to Taylor Lewis for the first out, but it moved Digiorno up 60 feet to third. Facing an 0-2 count, Bulldog freshman Emily Sheehan lifted a pop fly just beyond the infield dirt, shallow enough for Lewis to run it down but deep enough for Digiorno to score on the walk-off sac fly.
The two St. Francis teams complete a stretch of three road trips with a visit to Davis on Thursday. Both games start at 4 p.m.
UPDATE: First pitch for Thursday's road game has been corrected. This story previously said 3:30.
