St. Vincent softball team stuns Santa Rosa in final inning

St. Vincent stormed back with a two out rally in the bottom of the seventh inning to overhaul visiting Santa Rosa 4-3 in the first North Bay League Redwood game for both softball teams.

In the top of the same inning Santa Rosa went ahead 3-2 on a one-out double and a clutch single by Daniella Lee.

It wasn’t easy, but the Mustangs bounced back.

Sophomore infielder Maddie Badaglia hit a sharp single over the third baseman's outstretched glove to give the home fans some hope, but two outs were on the scoreboard. Badaglia managed to reach second base on a passed ball by the Santa Rosa catcher and it brought up Katrina Cespedes who was not in the normal two hole in the St. Vincent lineup.

Cespedes, who normally hits the ball very sharply, did not start in this one. She entered in the fourth frame, and it would make a huge difference late in the same. The hard-hitting junior found a delivery she liked, and lined it into right field to knot the score at 3-3, but a second run followed when the ball was mishandled.

Santa Rosa claimed the ball had rolled out of bounds, but the officials met for some time and overruled that claim.

The thrilling victory gave the Mustangs a 1-0 record in the North Bay League Redwood, and was highly disappointing to a big following of Panther supporters who made the trip from Santa Rosa.

Pitchers Sophia Skubic of the Mustangs and Gia Hernandez of the Panthers kept the hit totals for both teams to a minimum in a very well-pitched game for both teams. Skubic had six strikeouts.

Catcher Maddie DeLaMontonya of St. Vincent slugged a one-out single down the line for an RBI to keep the Mustangs within reach. Badaglia opened at short defensively for Cespedes, and made all the plays with accurate throws to record five assists.

The loss drops the overall record for Santa Rosa to 1-3. St. Vincent continues NBL Redwood play next Tuesday when the Mustangs travel to Santa Rosa to meet Piner.