SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Third baseman Taylor Trafican collected two hits while center fielder Sydney Hucik had a double and her team's lone RBI, but St. Francis junior varsity found itself on the losing end of an 11-1 final in its half of a Delta League softball doubleheader against Pleasant Grove Tuesday.
The Troubadour JV moves to 12-6-1 overall and 5-4-1 in league play. Tuesday's game also represents their home finale.
Hucik drove a double in the first inning that sent Trafican to third, giving SFHS two runners in scoring position. However, PG escaped that jam, only allowing a single Troubie run in the third: shortstop Sorina Pometta lead off with a hit by pitch, advanced to second on Trafican's second hit, then came around on back-to-back ground outs. St. Francis did not manage another hit until the sixth, but could not cut into the 10-run margin.
Across the way, senior third baseman Kayla Garber launched a two-run home run while senior pitcher Hope Jenkins took a perfect game into the seventh inning before surrendering her lone baserunner, as St. Francis varsity blanked Pleasant Grove, 6-0, on Schuster Field.
The Troubadours improve to 22-3 for the year, and 9-2 in league play. They also entered the game ranked No. 4 in the Sac-Joaquin Section by MaxPreps.
Hope Jenkins struck out 10 batters in her one-hit shutout, retiring 20 straight into the seventh. Then PG left fielder Riley Bigley grounded her first pitch to third baseman Alex Garcia for an infield single, spoiling the no-hitter and preventing Jenkins from firing her second perfect game of the year. Jenkins struck out Lindsay Paredes to complete the shutout.
She also hit 2-for-3 with a pair of RBIs. Garber smacked her second homer of the season in a three-run St. Francis first. Hope Jenkins drove in her twin sister, Grace Jenkins, to put the Troubies on the board. Then with courtesy runner Natalie Vigil running for H. Jenkins, Garber sent a 1-2 offering over the center-field fence to triple the lead to 3-0.
SFHS pushed across three more runs in the second inning to extend its lead to 6-0. Amy Abueg singled and advanced to third on an error that also scored Olivia McFarland. Abueg then came home when Francesca Guerrera grounded out to second. H. Jenkins then rapped out her second RBI single of the day, once again scoring G. Jenkins for the Troubies' sixth run.
Tuesday's game also served as Senior Day for St. Francis softball, with Garber, the Jenkins twins, Abueg and Haley Kim earning recognition prior to the game. The contest also happened to fall on the afternoon of the school's year-end awards, at which Grace Jenkins was honored as the SFHS Booster Club Leadership Award recipient.
Hope Jenkins has thrown three no-hitters in 2022, including a perfect game at Pioneer on March 25.
The Troubies close out their regular season on Thursday at Elk Grove, then will await the announcement of the Sac-Joaquin Section tournament pairings.
