Lexi Raasch pitches shutout as Cardinal Newman advances in NCS softball playoffs

Sixth-seeded Cardinal Newman utilized a shutout on the mound from ace Lexie Raasch combined with lively bats from her teammates to win 10-0 against No. 11 seed Lower Lake in a first-round NCS Division 4 softball playoff game on Tuesday at Cardinal Newman.

The Cardinals (16-9) of the North Bay League will play at No. 3 St. Vincent-St. Patrick of the Tri-County League on Friday at 4 p.m. in a quarterfinal game at Vallejo.

Against the overmatched Trojans (18-7) of the North Central League I, Raasch had eight strikeouts and gave up only two hits in a five-inning complete game outing (10-run shortened game rule invoked).

“Lexie was in control today,” Cardinals coach Bill Vreeland said. “She got ahead of hitters, pitched to all four zones effectively and stayed out of trouble,”

Offensively, the Cardinals scored four runs in the first inning and fourth innings and topped it off with two more runs in the fifth for the 10-spot. The Cardinals were paced by Kate West (2-4, 3 RBI, triple) and Sarah Knight (2-3, RBI).

“The kids came out and executed from the beginning,” Vreeland said. “We can sometimes be a slow starting team so it was good to execute early.”

Raasch, the co-NBL player of the year, will take the mound again on Friday.

“We will live and die with Lexie,” Vreeland said.

LIVERMORE 8, ?PETALUMA 0

No. 10 seed Petaluma of the Sonoma County League couldn’t overcome a fast start by visiting No. 7 Livermore of the tough Amador Valley League in their 0 Division 2 opening round game.

The Cowboys (12-11) scored three runs in the first and second innings for a 6-0 lead after two innings, knocking out Trojans (16-11) starter Emily O’Keefe after just 11/3 innings. Two more Livermore runs in the fourth inning sealed the game.

“Emily gave up two walks in the first and that really hurt,” Petaluma coach Kurt Jastrow said. “They jumped on us early. Livermore’s 3-run homer (by Madison Kahwaty) in the first inning set the tone for the rest of the game.”

For the co-SCL champs there weren’t many scoring opportunities against Cowboys starter Hannah Bennett, who gave up five hits in a seven-inning complete game. The Trojans loaded the bases in the sixth inning with two outs but Bennett fanned the Petaluma batter to end the opportunity.

“We had a good year. We were SCL co-champs but we didn’t want it to end this way,” Jastrow said.