Loss doesn’t much hurt St. Vincent girls

In a loss that hurt their pride more than their North Coast Section playoff chances, St. Vincent’s Lady Mustangs lost a one-game playoff for the North Central league II’s automatic bid to the NCS Division 5 playoffs to Calistoga, 6-4, Friday in Calistoga.

The teams tied for the NCL II championship with 9-1 records and had split their two league encounters. Calistoga erupted for five runs in the sixth inning to win the playoff game that determined the league’s automatic berth in the playoffs.

As it turned out, Calistoga was given the No. 4 seed and St. Vincent the No. 5 seed in the playoffs. Both received first-round home games.

Ironically, if both won those games, they would meet for a fourth time Friday or Saturday in Calistoga.

The game was a tense, 2-1, pitching duel between St. Vincent’s Hannah Sarlette and Calistoga’s Haley Butcher for five innings before Calistoga erupted in the sixth inning. St. Vincent came back for two runs in the seventh, but it wasn’t enough.

McKenna Wilson-Kay led the Lady Mustangs with two hits and an RBI. Haley Antonini doubled, scored two runs and knocked in a run and Mary Cerf and Bella Souza had key hits for St. Vincent.

St. Vincent bounced back from the disappointing loss to batter Valley Christian, 14-4, in a final tune-up game prior to the NCS playoffs.

Sarlette powered the win with a home run and a double, driving in five runs.

Wilson-Kay and Isabel Velez each had three hits for the Lady Mustangs, who collected 16 as a team. Antonini and Katelyn DelaMontanya provided two hits each and Jules Sikora drove home two runs.

St. Vincent finished out its regular season with a 14-10 record.