SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Sophomore Alexis McFarland and junior Claire Krotine hit a combined 5 of 8 at the top of the order while senior shortstop Francesca Guerrera launched a two-run blast for her first home run of the year, but St. Francis failed to protect an early 3-1 start in falling to Franklin by a 6-5 final in Delta League varsity softball action at Schuster Field Monday afternoon.
The Troubadours slip to 15-8 for the year and 7-4 in league play. The move into a tie for third place with Sheldon, trailing Pleasant Grove (10-2) and Elk Grove (8-3) in the standings. The top five teams from the Delta League earn berths in the Sac-Joaquin Section postseason.
McFarland hit 2-for-4 with a pair of runs batted in, while Krotine finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored. Guerrera totaled three RBIs for the game. In addition to her fifth-inning homer, she drove in SF's equalizing run in the bottom of the first. Krotine smacked a one-out single, then came around to third on a dropped pop-up. Guerrera flew out to right to score Krotine on a sacrifice fly.
The Troubies took a 3-1 lead in the second, thanks to a two-run hit to center, scoring Kasey McAtee and Taylor Trafican, who opened the frame with a walk and single, respectively. Both runners moved into scoring position on Natalie Vigil's bunt, setting the table for McFarland's bat. McFarland moved up to second on the attempt to catch Trafican at the plate. Krotine rapped a hard line drive up the middle that Franklin freshman shortstop Madison Ortega snared. With McFarland already taking her lead, Ortega had an easy double up at the keystone to end the SF rally.
The Wildcats then re-tied the contest in the top of the third, thanks to a massive two-run homer off the bat of left fielder Addie Meddings. She finished her day with a 3-for-4, three-RBI performance at the plate. Franklin pushed across three more runs in its fourth, thanks to six hits sprayed to all fields.
Meanwhile, St. Francis walked the bases loaded in the third, only to strand all three runners; then went down in order on five Madison Hunter pitches in the fourth. Krotine led off the fifth by legging out a ground ball to second, then came in two batters later when Guerrera launched a 2-1 pitch to Schuster's short porch in left. But Franklin third baseman Ashley Fields made back-to-back plays to end the inning and keep her team up by one.
St. Francis touched Hunter on three hits in the sixth, although the most impressive plate appearance may have belonged to Vigil. After Fields' double play cleared the bases, Vigil fouled off nine pitches before drawing ball four on a 13-pitch walk. McFarland and Krotine each followed with hits, with Krotine's coming on a bounder to short. Ortega's throw eluded Emily Azemar at first, giving Vigil a chance to score the equalizer on the errant throw. But Azemar corralled the ball and fired a strike to catcher Julissa Sandoval, who quickly applied a sweep tag on a stunned Vigil.
Fields continued to make defensive plays, firing across the diamond for the final two outs in the seventh and sealing the first Wildcat win over St. Francis since April 12, 2018 – snapping a 10-game Troubie series win streak.
Monday's win snapped St. Francis' 10-game winning streak in the series against Franklin, with the last Wildcat win coming on April 12, 2018.
Meanwhile, St. Francis' junior varsity played to its second straight tie, coming back from a 3-0 deficit to salvage a 4-4 draw against the Wildcats. Sophomore center fielder Marissa Jensen hit 2-for-3 with two RBIs and her third triple in two games to lead the younger Troubies.
Monday's varsity game also served as the Senior Day contest for St. Francis. A total of nine Troubies were recognized prior to first pitch: Guerrera, Trafican, McAtee, Vigil, Alex Garcia, Kiley Shea, Taylor Lewis, Sorina Pometta plus manager Mia Siino. All eight senior players got to at least start the contest: Shea in the circle, Vigil at catcher, McAtee at first, Trafican at second, Guerrera at short, Garcia at third, Lewis in left, Pometta in right.
St. Francis concludes the Delta League season with a road doubleheader at Sheldon on Wednesday, then returns home to host Pioneer on Friday. The home finale against the Patriots was originally scheduled for April 13, then was canceled due to inclement weather. However, a quirk in the CIF rules – specifically that both teams have clinched SJS playoff spots – allows for a regular-season game to be played in between the last contest date and the postseason selection date.
