NCS softball tournament roundup: Analy perfect in 13-0 rout of Acalanes

The No. 3-seeded Analy softball team had no worries on Friday afternoon once starting pitcher Saja Spearman-Weaver took the mound.

The Tigers' ace pitched a perfect game (five innings) to springboard her team to a 13-0 rout of visiting No. 11 Acalanes of Lafayette in a North Coast Section Division 3 quarterfinal.

“Saja's stuff was working from start to finish. She kept them off balance with her screwball, fastball, change-up,” Analy coach Nick Houtz said. “But it was a team effort. The kids were ready to play and went out and showed what they can do.”

The Tigers' (22-5) semifinal round opponent will be the winner of today's matchup of No. 2 Bishop O'Dowd and No. 7 Tamalpais.

Spearman-Weaver struck out seven Dons (9-12) in registering her first perfect game of the season.

Meanwhile, the Tigers' offense took charge immediately, scoring six runs in the bottom of the first inning and tacking on runs in subsequent innings.

The Tigers rapped out 17 hits for the game.

“We are kind of a power-hitting team, but it was good solid hitting and we played the short game,” Houtz said. “The kids played ball tonight.”

Analy's Gema Gonzalez went 2-2 with three RBIs to lead the Tigers' offense.

St. Patrick-St. Vincent 5, Cardinal Newman 3

The visiting No. 6 Cardinals (16-10) had a 3-0 lead going into the home half of the fifth inning, only to give up five runs in the final two Bruins at-bats for an NCS Division 4 quarterfinal loss.

The rally by No. 3 St. Patrick-St. Vincent of Vallejo ended the Cardinals' season in a narrow but finite manner.

The big blow for the Bruins (18-8) was a three-run homer three feet inside the left-field foul pole in the bottom of the sixth by Jaydee Boursaw, sealing the Cardinals fate.

Boursaw connected off Cardinals ace starter Lexie Raasch.

“Lexie tried to get it in on her hands and she (Boursaw) did a good job of extending. It was a big swing and it didn't go our way,” Cardinal Newman coach Bill Vreeland said. “We had them until that homer. We were five outs away from moving to the next round.”

Cardinal Newman put runners on the corners with two outs in the top of the seventh, but Bruins starting pitcher Cecily Kaluza extinguished the Cardinals' bid for a tie by getting the final out and stranding the runners.

Cassie Killeen led the Cardinals offensively, going 3-3 with a solo homer and one RBI.

St. Joseph Notre Dame 12, Technology 2

The visiting underdog No. 7 Technology High Titans hung tough for 4½ innings in a Division 5 quarterfinal before the favored Pilots of Alameda pulled away in the fifth inning with an 11-run explosion to end the contest.

“We were really happy to be playing with them as long as we did,” Technology coach Jason Cummesky said. “St. Joseph Notre Dame is a strong program and we are in our third year playing softball.”

Technology (16-4) relied on strong pitching by starter Dani Baker, who was in command until the fateful St. Joseph fifth inning.

“Dani was hitting her spots in the corners and had good off-speed stuff,” Cummesky said. “St. Joseph figured her out and got their timing down against Dani in the fifth inning.”

The second-seeded Pilots' (12-10) fifth inning featured a double, eight singles, two walks and numerous errors by the Titans.

Conversely, Technology only scratched out three hits for the game.

“In the fourth inning their side was very quiet, but they came alive in the fifth,” Cummesky said. “St. Joseph should win the whole thing.”

The Titans had no seniors and this was their first taste of the NCS playoffs in the program's short history.

“We are looking forward to next year,” Cummesky said. “Tech High is due to make a name for ourselves.”