Prep softball: St. Vincent holds off Ukiah to win NBL-Redwood tournament

On Thursday afternoon, the St. Vincent softball team defeated rival Ukiah 6-3 in the North Bay League-Redwood postseason tournament championship to cap a banner year for the Mustangs in their first full season in the league.

The Mustangs also won the NBL-Redwood regular season with a 14-1 league record.

The Mustangs (20-6) have an eight-game winning streak and are hoping to keep the good times rolling in the upcoming North Coast Section Division 4 playoffs. St. Vincent will find out its NCS seeding and opponent on Sunday.

“It feels amazing,” St. Vincent coach Morgan Selmi said about winning both the NBL-Oak regular season and postseason tournament. “The girls are impressive to watch. They show up every day and work hard. Our motto is, ‘We want to crush it.’ This is their year.”

St. Vincent ace Sophia Skubic (17-4) overcame a rough start to secure the win in a complete game. After surrendering three runs in the second inning to give visiting Ukiah (16-8) a 3-2 lead, the Wildcats would not score again. Skubic threw seven innings, giving up three earned runs and three hits while striking out six.

“Sophia’s rise ball was flat today. I had a chat with her and told her she has to keep the ball low,” Selmi said. “She stepped up and made some adjustments. Her change-up was on fire, it kept them off-balance. She did a great job.”

St. Vincent seized the lead in the fourth inning against Ukiah starter Julia Maldonado, who took the loss. The Mustangs scored four runs in the inning, spurred by a solo homer to left field by Sofia Romano (2-3, 2 RBI, run), her first of the season.

“That homer changed the momentum of the game,” Selmi said. “You could see it in our girls’ faces.”

Tied 3-3 in the bottom of the fourth, Izzy Badaglia drew a walk with the bases loaded to force in Vanessa Rios from third base to give St. Vincent a 4-3 lead. The Mustangs added two more runs in the inning to take a 6-3 lead.

“Julia pitched well — St. Vincent was just getting hits,” Ukiah coach Arianna Bowers said. “It was a given they were going to get hits.”

Maldonado went seven innings, giving up six earned runs on seven hits.

Ukiah squandered prosperity on offense as St. Vincent committed five errors to the Wildcats’ two. Ukiah was only able to manage three hits and couldn’t cash in on St. Vincent’s defensive miscues.

“We hit it right at people,” Bowers said. “When we did have hits, it was with no one on base.”

Selmi said with so many errors, St. Vincent was fortunate to win.

“Ukiah definitely left a lot of runners on base and had a lot of opportunities,” Selmi said. “They didn’t capitalize on them.”

In addition to Romano, St. Vincent was led at the plate by Maddy DeLaMontanya (2-3, 2 RBI, 2 doubles, run).

The Wildcats were led offensively by Kali Garcia (2-3, 2 RBI, run).

Ukiah, which finished second in the NBL-Redwood regular season, is waiting to see if they get an at-large bid to the NCS.

“We got better each time we were on the field this year,” Bowers said. “I’m just proud of this team.”

The Mustangs won three out of four games against the Wildcats this season. The one loss was St. Vincent’s only defeat in the NBL-Redwood regular season.

“Each time we come out to play Ukiah there is a sense of urgency,” Selmi said. “This team was one of the most exciting teams I have ever coached.”