SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Senior center fielder Olivia McFarland hit 2-for-3 with a solo homer while sophomore left fielder Kylee Garrett came through with a bases-loaded triple, boosting St. Francis to a five-inning, 11-1 win over Mountain House in the first round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II softball championship Tuesday at Schuster Field.

The fourth-seeded Troubadours improve to 15-12 for the season, and will host the quarterfinal around against fifth-seeded Woodcreek on Friday. The Mustangs end their season at 15-11.

Seniors Jazzy Basquez and Isabelle Vela also finished 2-for-3 at the plate, with Vela adding two RBIs of her own. Junior Kiley Shea went the distance in the pitching circle, allowing three hits and one earned run in five innings complete. She surrendered just one hit in the first three frames, with that runner coming off the bases when Basquez initiated a 4-3 double play in the second.

St. Francis put up 10 of its 11 runs in two innings: six in the second, plus four in the fifth to invoke the run rule. McFarland began the second-inning rally with her solo shot to left. Vela made it 2-0 when her short fly to center disappeared into the sun for center fielder Isabel Obaob. Vela made it to second on a double, scoring Reese Lewis in the process. Deanna Richardson entered as the courtesy runner for Vela, then Francesca Guerrera and Claire Krotine walked to juice up the bases. 

Garrett fell behind 0-2 in the count before she slashed a line drive toward right center. Mustang outfielder Brooke Carpenter overran the route to her right, allowing the hit to slice untouched toward the corner. This cleared the bases, extending the lead to 5-0 and raising Garrett's triples total to three this year. 

The Troubies manufactured one more run in the fourth: Guerrera battled from an 0-2 count to a nine-pitch walk, moved up to second on Krotine's sacrifice bunt, stole third, then scored on the errant throw. 

Shea's bid for a shutout was spoiled in the fifth when a spinning pop-up landed between her and the catcher Vela. With no likely play to first, both players allowed the ball to backspin into foul territory. Instead, it came to rest in fair territory just a few feet in front of home plate, giving Veronika Emerson a single and the only Mountain House RBI of the game. Nonetheless, the left side of the infield – Guerrera at short and Garcia at third – made head-up infield plays throughout that inning to prevent any further erosion into the lead.

With a 7-1 advantage, freshman pinch hitter Marissa Jensen led off by getting hit on a 3-0 pitch. McFarland followed with a hit, then Lewis hit a double that came just inches short of a homer to straightaway center. This cleared the bases for a 9-1 run. Basquez then scored pinch runner Jaeya Leavitt to make it 10-1. An attempt to gun down the speedy Leavitt also allowed Basquez an extra 60 feet, putting the game-ending run in scoring position.

With freshman pinch runner Isabella Barge now on the second for Basquez, Vela poked a ball through the middle of the infield just to the left of second. Obaob, still at regular depth, had no chance to get Barge at the plate, resulting in a walk-off single for Vela.

The 10-run margin represents the largest against Mountain House this season, and marks the fourth time in the last five games that St. Francis has reached double digits in runs scored. The third triple for Garrett ties her with Krotine for the team lead. That's the first time multiple Troubies reached three triples in a season since 2016, when Mary Baccay (5), Sydney Littles (4) and Chloe Smith (3) each hit that mark.

Finally, McFarland's home run is her third in the past five games – a feat made more impressive when considering she had never homered in her first 63 varsity games (138 plate appearances), and that she missed almost two months of her senior season due to injury. 

The SJS second round is normally scheduled for Thursday, but the section officials approved a postponement to Friday due to St. Francis' graduation ceremonies on May 18.