TRACY, Calif. – First baseman Alex Garcia drove in second baseman Amy Abueg on a squeeze bunt in the bottom of the 10th inning to boost St. Francis to a 5-4 win over Lincoln of Stockton on the first day of the NFHS NorCal Leadoff Classic softball tournament Thursday.
The Troubadours improve to 14-2 for the year. The Trojans dip to 13-4 overall. According to MaxPreps, the two teams entered the weekend ranked fifth and 14th in the Sac-Joaquin Section, respectively.
Senior center fielder Grace Jenkins hit 2-for-3 with a solo home run in the fourth, while pitcher Hope Jenkins finished 2-for-2 with three walks and two stolen bases. Hope also went the distance in the circle, striking out 16 and surrendering just one earned run. Her counterpart, Lincoln senior Peja Goold, fanned 13 Troubies despite taking the loss.
Lincoln took an initial 1-0 lead in the second on an RBI double from Justice Rebudela, but St. Francis regained the lead to 2-1 in its fourth. Grace Jenkins slammed the first offering from Goold to opposite field for her solo shot, then Hope Jenkins singled, stole second, advanced to third on a fielder's choice, then scored when Olivia McFarland came up with an inside-out single to short right.
The Trojans knotted up the game at 2-2 in the top of the sixth on back-to-back hits from Olivia Holtz and Morgan Grupe. Hope Jenkins struck out two to retire the top of the seventh in order, while Goold drew three straight ground outs in the bottom half to force extra frames.
With the international tiebreaker in effect, Lincoln took a 4-3 lead in the ninth when Danielle Hunter's RBI single brought in Jordan Hayes to start the frame. However, H. Jenkins struck out the next three Trojans in order to hold the deficit at one. Freshman Kylee Garrett was placed at second to start the bottom half of the sixth, then advanced to third on a wild pitch. McFarland then plated Garrett on a sacrifice fly to center for her second RBI, evening the score to 4-4.
Lincoln took the lead yet again in the top of the 10th, as Rebuldela was placed on second, moved up 60 feet on a Mia Pamplona bunt, then brought home on a St. Francis error.
The Troubies answered immediately in the bottom of the 10th, with placed runner Haley Kim scoring the equalizer. Goold took no chances with the Jenkins twins, walking each to load the bases for Garcia. On a 1-1 pitch, the sophomore from Folsom placed a bunt just to the left of the pitching circle. Hunter charged on the play, scooped up the ball and attempted to flip to the catcher Pamplona for a game-saving force play. But the speedy Abueg outraced the throw for the game-winning run.
Meanwhile, the St. Francis junior varsity was scheduled to host Rosemont for a rare game on the school's Schuster Field varsity diamond, but that game was canceled due to expected rain.
Due to weather in the San Joaquin Valley, the NorCal Classic reconfigured its remaining schedule from a bracket to a round-robin format.
UPDATE: The Friday schedule was revised again at 6:45 p.m. Thursday. St. Francis will now face Central Catholic at 2:15 p.m. followed by Enochs at 4 p.m.. Both games will take place at the Tracy Ballpark.
