SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Seniors Jazzy Basquez and Isabelle Vela hit two of the three home runs on a day dedicated to them, as St. Francis clipped Sheldon, 10-2, in the varsity end of a Delta League softball doubleheader at Schuster Field Wednesday.
The game marked the end of the regular season, with the Troubadours honoring four 2023 graduates prior to the contest: Basquez, Vela, outfielder Olivia McFarland and manager Maddie Maggy. St. Francis moves to 14-12 overall and finishes 8-4 in league play.
Sophomore left fielder Kylee Garrett had the third Troubie home run for the day as part of her 2-for-3 day at the plate. Junior shortstop Francesca Guerrera also had two hits with two runs scored and another driven in. Kiley Shea and Reese Lewis split time in the pitching circle: Shea allowing three hits and an unearned run in three innings, with Lewis surrendering two hits and a run across the final four frames.
St. Francis scored the entirety of its runs in the second and third innings. Basquez launched a two-run shot to left, scoring McFarland and erasing the Huskies' initial 1-0 start. Guerrera followed with an RBI single then Claire Krotine delivered a two-run double to extend the lead to 5-1. Garrett played Krotine on a sacrifice fly to right to make it a six-run inning.
Then in the fourth, Vela blasted a two-run, opposite-field home run to bring in Basquez and pad the advantage to 8-1. Guerrera immediately followed with a bloop single to right, setting the stage for Garrett's two run homer to left.
Sheldon got a run back with Sakora Harvell's solo shot with one out in the seventh, but Lewis rebounded to get Jaylee Ojo to bounce out to Basquez at second. The freshman righty then fanned left fielder Reyna Ozuna to complete the win.
The victory over the Huskies marked the first in the series for the Troubies since March 30, 2011, ending a Sheldon series streak of 22 straight wins.
The varsity win accompanied a five-run, 13-2 victory by the Troubies' junior varsity squad. Marissa Jensen and Layla Werner each hit 3-for-4 while shortstop Deanna Richardson knocked out a two-run homer in the fourth for SF. Meanwhile, Werner went the distance in the circle, allowing three hits and no earned runs while striking out six.
In contrast to their varsity sisters, the St. Francis jayvees scored 11 of their 13 runs in the late innings: six in the fourth, five in the fifth. Werner helped her cause with a two-run single – half of her four total RBIs – after Richardson's bomb to start the fourth-inning rally. Werner had a second two-run safety to cap the fifth. Jensen, Emma Fox and Jaeya Leavitt had hits as part of that outburst.
The St. Francis JV ends its season with a 14-7-1 record. The Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs will begin on Tuesday, with five Delta League teams expected to earn tourney berths. The seedings and pairings will be announced at the CIF-SJS (cifsjs.org) website in the coming day.
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