The Santa Rosa Junior College softball team swept San Jose City College over its two-game set May 3 and May 4.
In the first game, SRJC sent out staff ace Megan Winters to take the mound. She pitched well but committed some errors pitching to three unearned runs.
“It was part of the plan to start Megan, and pull after three to four innings to save her arm,” said head coach Phil Wright.
SRJC pitcher Dana Thomsen came out of the bullpen firing strikes, not allowing a run over three innings of relief. However, the Bear Cubs couldn’t figure out the San Jose starter throughout most of the game.
“She was throwing a lot of strikes,” Wright said. “She forced a lot of tough at bats and held us in some situations where we usually would get a run in.”
The Bear Cubs found themselves trailing 4-2 after the fifth inning. Taylor Spaulding cut the lead to one on a sacrifice fly, scoring Courtnie Morton after her leadoff double in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Down 4-3 with two outs, sophomore catcher Megan Stroud drew a walk to bring up Morton one more time. Morton got a fastball over the plate and unloaded a blast over the centerfield fence for a walk off 5-4 victory.
“Biggest hit of my life,” Morton said. “My mindset was just get a hit or on base any way. Hitting a home run was not even crossing my mind.”
Her homerun was the highlight of the game for the Bear Cubs as the team picked up a win in its playoff opener.
The Bear Cubs kept the momentum in the second game of the playoffs against San Jose May 4.
Thomsen dominated on the mound once again, allowing just one run over seven innings while picking up four strikeouts.
Thomsen got all her run support she needed from sophomore Chauntel Cesna, hitting a pair of bombs to lead the way for the Bear Cubs with three runs batted in.
“It was a lot of my fault in the first game. We didn’t do a lot of the things we had been doing all season long like bunting and moving runners over,” Wright said. “We didn’t want to show our whole hand in the first game.”
Advancing to its first super regional final in over 12 years, SRJC is poised to make some noise.
“We have been fighting all year long,” Winters said. “We will play anywhere, anyplace, at any time. We are ready for the challenge.”
The No. 6 ranked SRJC play No. 3 ranked Sierra College at 4 p.m. May 3 in the Super Regional playoffs.