Open division
No. 1 seed St. Francis had no difficulty in the opening round of the Central Coast Section Open Division softball playoffs Saturday, routing No. 8 Cupertino 18-0.
Sydney Stewart and Carly Cummings homered for St. Francis (26-2), the top-ranked team in the Bay Area News Group’s Top 20, bringing the team’s season total to 49 round-trippers in 28 games along with a .454 team batting average. Stewart’s home run was her 12th of the season.
Cummings hit her second of the season.
“It was her first-ever over the fence, which was kind of cool,” St. Francis coach Mike Oakland said.
Shannon Keighran pitched the first three innings, Kate Munnerlyn came on for the final two.
Cupertino (21-4) had a fine season. But as a member of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League’s El Camino Division, it was overmatched against the Lancers.
St. Francis will play no. 4 seed Aragon in the semifinals Wednesday at Los Gatos High at 4 pm
“We played them twice last year,” Oakland said. “In Megan Grant and Olivia DiNardo, they have two of the best hitters, not just around here but in the nation.”
All four Open Division semifinalists qualify for the inaugural Northern California regional playoffs that start May 31.
No. 4 Aragon 8, no. 5 Los Gatos 0
Rae D’Amato and Brooke Tran combined on the shutout for Aragon (16-5). D’Amato went the first three innings, Tran the final four.
The Dons broke the game open early with a six-run second inning.
D’Amato had three hits and drove in two runs, Brooklyn Blake two hits and two RBIs. Tran and DiNardo also had two hits apiece.
Aragon coach Liz Roscoe cited defensive plays by Blake at second base and left fielder Janelle Jee as keys in maintaining the shutout.
Los Gatos finishes the season 22-4.
No. 3 Archbishop Mitty 14, no. 6 San Benito 1
The Monarchs (25-3) got home runs from Taryn Kern, Elon Butler and Lindsey Miller to put the game away early with an 11-run third inning. Kern’s homer was her 12th of the season. Jessica Werthman went five innings for the win and improved to 8-1.
Mitty will play No. 2 seed Notre Dame-Salinas, a 4-3 winner over Santa Teresa, in the Open Division semifinals, Tuesday at 4 pm at the Salinas Sports Complex.
Division II
No. 2 Capuchino 7, no. 7 gunn 1
Elizabeth Do, Lola Sierra and Madison Choi had two hits apiece and Nohemi Livingston pitched a complete game for Capuchino (18-9), which will play Hillsdale in the semifinals on Tuesday at 7 pm at PAL Stadium. Hillsdale went 2-0 against Capuchino in Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division play.
Gunn finishes 17-7.
No. 3 Hillsdale 8, no. 6 San Lorenzo Valley 0
Alex Bunton had a double, single and three RBIs to lead Hillsdale (14-8). Claire Shelton had two hits and scored three runs and Lexi Kuka pitched a three-hit shutout with no walks and eight strikeouts.
No. 4 Valley Christian 9, no. 5 Gilroy 3
Valley Christian (17-10) rallied from a 3-0 deficit to defeat Gilroy. A bases-loaded triple by Ella Steele put the warriors ahead to stay.
They will play no. 8 Monterey, an 11-0 winner over top seed Watsonville, in a 4 pm start Thursday at PAL Stadium.
Division I
No. 8 Silver Creek (16-9) avenged a regular-season loss to No. 1 Willow Glen with a 14-4 victory; No. 7 Westmont (19-9) beat No. 2 milpitas 1-0; No. 4 Notre Dame-Belmont (18-1) defeated No. 5 Branham 7-2 and no. 6 Sequoia dropped a 5-4 decision to Alvarez.
In Tuesday’s semifinals, Silver Creek will play Notre Dame-Belmont at 4 pm at PAL Stadium and Westmont will take on Alvarez at 7 pm at Los Gatos High.
Elsewhere
Carlmont, the No. 1 seed in Division III, defeated Gonzales 7-5 and No. 6 Live Oak (13-13) beat No. 3 St. Francis-Watsonville, 14-3.
