VACAVILLE, Calif. – Sophomore Kylee Garrett, senior Olivia McFarland and junior Alex Garcia each knocked out base hits, but St. Francis surrendered two big innings in falling, 11-0, to Vacaville in the semifinal round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II softball championship tournament Tuesday afternoon.

The Troubadours end their season with a 16-13 overall record. The top-seeded Bulldogs improve to 29-1 overall.

The trio of Garrett, McFarland and Garcia had the only hits off junior Bulldog pitcher Xochitl Atayde, who went the distance in her team's third consecutive postseason shutout. McFarland and Garcia led off the second inning with back-to-back safeties, but were stranded when Atayde punched out the next three SF batters in order.

Garrett then gave the Troubies a chance to score in the fourth with her leadoff hit to left in the fourth. McFarland moved her up 60 feet on a sit-and-spin sacrifice bunt, then a foul fly off Garcia's bat down the right-field line allowed Garrett to tag up and get to third standing up. However, Atayde again escaped, getting a harmless pop-up to keep Garrett from scoring.

Meanwhile, the Bulldogs woke up with five runs in the third inning, then another six in the fifth to invoke the run rule. Sophomore catcher Hayden Kyne capped the third-inning rally with a two-run double to center, while back-to-back doubles from senior Makayla Freshour and Kyne opened the fifth. Freshman shortstop Laila Dean smacked a solo homer to left to make it 8-0 for Vacaville.

Paige Witte followed Dean's bomb with a single to center, then second baseman Jordan Munn to represent the game-winning run. This set the table for third baseman Audrie Gibson, who slammed her first varsity homer to right center, walking off the victory and propelling the Bulldogs to their seventh all-time section final.

Garcia and Garrett finished the year with batting averages of .429 and .425, respectively. Junior Hailey Strange closed out with four homers, making her the 11th SF player in the MaxPreps era (2005-present) to reach that number. Junior shortstop Francesca Guerrera ended up with a .387/.433/.569 slash line, while her 31 runs scored puts her sixth on the school leaderboard.

Tuesday's playoff represented the career finale for four seniors: McFarland, second baseman Jazzy Basquez, catcher Isabelle Vela, and manager Maddie Maggy, who was activated to play during the final month of the season. The 2023 season also marked the second straight year that St. Francis advanced at least to the final four of the section playoffs, following last year's championship final appearance.