FOLSOM, Calif. – Senior catcher Grace Jenkins launched two solo home runs while her twin sister struck out 12 batters in a three-hitter, leading St. Francis to a 4-1 win over Vista Del Lago in a non-league showdown of two of the area's top prep softball programs Monday night.
The Troubadours, which entered the contest ranked No. 2 in the Sac-Joaquin Section by MaxPreps, improves to 19-2 for the year and extends their win streak to eight. The No. 11 Eagles, currently the undefeated leaders of the Capital Athletic League, snap their six-game victorious streak to fall to 17-3-1.
Grace Jenkins parked a 1-0 pitch past the right-field wall to put her team on the board in the top of the first, then later led off the sixth with a second solo blast to center. This is now the 10th straight game that the UConn-bound backstop has driven in at least one run, and the first game of her prep career with multiple homers.
Hope Jenkins, also headed to UConn, held a no-hitter into the fifth until freshman Riley Dossey hit a one-out double to left. Dossey moved up 60 feet on a Makayla Mentzer sacrifice bunt, then came home when Tayler Biehl's hard grounder got through the left side. But SF left fielder Amy Abueg came up firing to get Mentzer trying to stretch to third. A pitch later, G. Jenkins gunned down Biehl on a stolen-base attempt.
Vista managed to threaten again in the sixth, but H. Jenkins fanned four down in the stretch to keep further Eagle runs on the board.
In between Grace's homers, the Troubies pushed across two in the fifth, thanks in part to two Vista errors plus a timely double by junior second baseman Jazzy Basquez. Kayla Garber reached on an error, Haley Kim followed with a single, then Basquez lined a two-bagger to center, scoring pinch runner Kylee Garrett. Kim also came home on another Eagle error during Basquez' hit.
St. Francis junior varsity lost 7-2 to an equally formidable Vista JV team. The younger Troubies are now 11-4-1, while the JV Eagles improve to 19-2 overall. In fact, the Vista jayvees have outscored opponents by a 262-61 margin this season for an average of 12.5 runs per game.
St. Francis varsity now stands just one win away from its first 20-win season since going 22-6-1 in 2006. The Troubies host Franklin for a 4 p.m. Delta League doubleheader on Tuesday.
