NCS softball roundup: Casa Grande seizes title; Cloverdale falls to rival

Friday night proved historic for the Casa Grande softball team, as the Gauchos brought home their third North Coast Section banner in the school’s history and their first in 22 years.

The second-seeded Gauchos defeated No. 5 Livermore 5-1 in the Division 2 championship at San Marin High School in Novato.

“This banner is huge for our school,” Casa Grande coach Billy Brody said. “The girls play more as a family. They believe in each other. They had one goal tonight and that was to get a ‘W’ and they did.”

Casa Grande (25-4) was the beneficiary of a stellar pitching performance by ace Lila Partridge, who went the distance for the win, giving up one run and six hits while striking out nine.

“Lila has been dominant all year. She kept Livermore off-balance,” Brody said. “Her change-up was really good again tonight.”

The last time the Gauchos won an NCS title was in 2001. They also won in 1998. To win this year’s pennant, Casa Grande defeated No. 15 Las Lomas 7-1, No. 7 American Canyon 10-3 and No. 3 Alameda 5-0, before knocking off Livermore (15-11) in the title game.

The game started in favor of the Cowboys, who took the lead in the second inning after a triple and field’s choice nicked Partridge (15-2). However, the Gauchos responded against Livermore starter Savanna Froke with two runs in the third and three in the fourth for a comfortable 5-1 lead. Neither team would score after that.

“It doesn’t phase our girls to go down by a run. There was no panic with these girls; they believe in themselves,” Brody said. “Froke kept us off-balance the first time through the lineup. We played small-ball tonight.”

Perhaps the seminal moment came in the fourth with bases loaded for Casa Grande, when Partridge and Froke were locked in an intense battle at the plate for a phenomenal 18 pitches. Partridge eventually milked a walk with the bases jammed for an RBI, knocking Froke from the game.

“Lila got down in the count and just kept fouling them back,” Brody said. “She is a tough kid to get the ball by.”

Partridge went 2-for-3 with two RBI. The Gauchos rapped out 11 hits. Casa Grande hitters Georgia Moss (2-for-3, two doubles, run), Lauren Ketchu (2-for-4, RBI, two runs), and Maeve Broadhead (1-for-3, RBI) all had big nights at the plate.

“We definitely exceeded our expectations for the season,” said Brody, a first-year head coach who credits his three assistant coaches who have been with the program for eight years in aiding the team’s success.

The Gauchos also won the Vine Valley Athletic League regular-season title. Next up is the state Northern California playoffs, which Casa Grande qualified for by winning NCS. The Gauchos will learn their first-round opponent Sunday when the brackets are revealed. First-round games start Tuesday.

Brody said he expects Casa Grande to get a first-round home game.

St. Helena 2, Cloverdale 0

It’s difficult for one team to beat another three times in a season, but St. Helena pulled off the feat Friday night when the stakes where highest — in the North Coast Section Division 5 championship game.

The top-seeded Saints defeated visiting rival No. 2 Cloverdale 2-0 to win the championship.

“St. Helena played a really good game. We got beat by a better team tonight, for sure,” Cloverdale assistant coach Pat Fitzgerald said. “St. Helena made a couple of stupendous diving plays on defense. They made the plays when they needed to.”

The Saints (23-4) beat the Eagles (16-6) twice during the North Central I League regular season, 4-0 and 6-4. St. Helena won the league title while Cloverdale came in third behind second-place Fort Bragg.

The NCS Division 5 title game was a pitchers’ duel from the beginning. St. Helena senior starter Ari Farrell gave up a single to Cloverdale’s Tylie Hatcher but didn’t surrender a hit after that. Farrell pitched a complete-game shutout and struck out seven Eagles hitters.

“Ari pretty much has everything — she has the whole gamut of pitches. She has a drop curve, throws hard and has a good change-up,” Fitzgerald said. “She shut us down with runners in scoring position.”

Specifically, the Eagles had a runner on third with one out in the first inning and a runner on third with no outs in the third, but could not cash in on either prime scoring chance.

“We didn’t hit as well as I had hoped,” Fitzgerald said. “We actually had a few opportunities to score early. We needed to get that timely hit with runners in scoring position and we didn’t.”

While St. Helena had three errors, the miscues did not come back to haunt the home team. On the flip side, Cloverdale had two errors and both led to unearned runs for the Saints — one in the first and one in the third. Both runs came on RBI singles by Farrell (2-for-3).

“Ari is a good hitter; she carried them,” Fitzgerald said. “We didn’t capitalize on St. Helena’s errors. Once we made our two mistakes, they got timely hits, so you have to give St. Helena credit.”

Cloverdale sophomore starter Charlotte Burchett took the loss in a complete game. She limited St. Helena to five hits and no earned runs.

“Charlotte pitched a tremendous game. She kept us in it, flat out,” Fitzgerald said. “Her stuff was working really well. Her drop-curve and screwball were key tonight.”

Fitzgerald said there is a good chance the Eagles will make the NorCal playoffs, but it is not guaranteed since the Eagles were runners-up in the NCS.

“We deserve to make it, for sure,” Fitzgerald said of the regional tournament. “We would be on the road in the first round.”

Cloverdale is now 10-10 in 20 NCS championship games over the past 45 years, since its first title game in 1978. As for the loss to St. Helena, Fitzgerald said it will give his young team motivation to come back more competitive next year.

“I don’t feel disappointed because our girls played so hard and competed. They did everything we asked them to,” he said. “We had a great year. Next year we will come back a year older, stronger, better. We will have one goal in mind next year — winning the NCS title.”