ELK GROVE, Calif. – Senior shortstop Francesca Guerrera hit 4-for-4 with a double while senior third baseman Alex Garcia launched a two-run homer to right center field, highlighting St. Francis in its 7-5 win over Sheldon in the varsity finale of the 2024 Delta League softball season.

The Troubadours improve to 16-8 overall and 8-4 in league play. The Huskies move to 14-11 with a 7-5 final league mark. The two teams were tied for third place heading into the contest. The victory also completed St. Francis' first series sweep against the perennial Sac-Joaquin Section power since MaxPreps began recording such data in 2005. In fact, prior to 2024, the Troubies had only beaten the Huskies twice in the previous 37 meetings, with the two wins – May 10, 2023 and March 30, 2011 – both coming at Schuster Field.

Junior right fielder Claire Krotine finished 2-for-4 with a pair of runs, while Alexis McFarland, Kinsley Imm, Reese Lewis and Isabella Barge also had hits for SF. Lewis pitched nearly the entire game, yielding the circle to Imm for a one-batter, one-out save.

Sheldon took an initial lead when junior Madison Chapman hit a comebacker to Lewis to lead off the first. The ball glanced off the sophomore pitcher's glove to Guerrera, but Chapman easily beat the throw. Chapman then stole second, moved up to third on an error, then scored on a sacrifice fly as Troubie left fielder Sorina Pometta made a sweet shoestring catch on a sinking line drive off Angie Guzman's bat.

But the Troubies answered in the next half inning, starting with Guerrera's bounder through the middle to start the frame. Guerrera was forced out, but Imm hustled to prevent a double play at first. Two batters later, Lewis ripped a single to center to score Imm for the equalizer.

Sheldon eventually took a 3-1 lead, thanks to RBI singles from Guzman and Kayla Leone in the third and fourth, respectively. Still Guerrera's glove helped minimize the damage, as she initiated an inning-ending double play in the third then picked back-to-back liners to start the fourth. Pometta also helped the cause, with her second of four putouts in left: she ran a perfect route on a hard Chapman line drive to the gap for the first out in the third.

St. Francis regained the lead for good by pushing across four in its fifth inning. Barge opened the rally with a double to right, McFarland was hit by a pitch, then Krotine legged out a bunt to load the bases with only one out. Chapman gloved a Garcia grounder that allowed her to force McFarland at second, but Barge scored to cut the lead to 3-2. With two on and now two out, Guerrera clubbed a high fly toward the right field power alley. Center fielder Briana Lewis caught a piece of the ball but with gusty winds altering every fly ball, she couldn't make the play. The ball landed in the warning track. Both Krotine and Garcia were running on the play, and had plenty of time to score the tying and go-ahead runs.

In the top of the seventh, Garcia provided Lewis with some insurance runs. Krotine reached on her second infield hit, then Garcia lofted a towering ball that easily carried the 210 feet for a homer. This marked the second dinger of the year for the Utah State commit, the sixth of her career, and enough to pad the Troubies lead to 7-3. Guerrera rapped out her fourth hit to follow Garcia, but was stranded at first when sophomore Kwinci Brown worked her way out of the inning.

Garcia's two RBIs and the expanded lead proved crucial when Sheldon began to crawl back in the seventh. Lewis got two outs right away, but freshman pinch hitter Angelica Sanchez lined a double down the line to initiate a two-out rally. Lewis returned to run for Garcia, and scored on Guzman's flare to center. Another Husky freshman, third baseman Grace Harding, drilled a liner to right to bring in Guzman. With the potential equalizer now at the plate in the form of Micah Kennedy, SF head coach Kevin Warren summoned his own freshman Imm to swap places with Lewis. Kennedy popped up a 1-0 pitch straight back to Imm for the save.

Meanwhile on the adjacent field, St. Francis junior varsity wrapped its 2024 season with a scrimmage against the Huskies. The younger Troubies were forced to forfeit the contest due to a shortage of players, but two Sheldon players joined their guests to play an exhibition. While no scoring was officially tabulated, sophomores Marissa Jensen and Lillian Desmond each hit home runs in their final at-bats of the season.

The SF varsity continues its season with a home game against Pioneer on Friday, a rescheduling of a rained out game from April 13. The team will then learn of its pairing in the SJS tournament, which begins on Tuesday.