NCS softball: Casa Grande gets chance to defend section title (2024)

Casa Grande will get a chance to defend its section title.

The top-seeded Gauchos capitalized on several offensive opportunities Tuesday to give junior ace Lila Partridge enough run support for a 3-1 win over No. 5 seed Alameda in the North Coast Section Division 2 semifinals in Petaluma.

Partridge, a University of Kansas commit, struck out seven with no walks, five hits and one earned in the circle, working with an early lead before the Gauchos (22-2) plated a few runs in the middle innings for some insurance.

Casa Grande, ranked No. 13 In the state by CalHi Sports, will face No. 2 seed Livermore (24-5), ranked No. 24 in the state by the same outlet, in the Division 2 championship at 7 p.m. Friday night at San Marin High School. The Gauchos have won the last two meetings with the Cowboys — 5-1 in the NCS Division 2 title game last year and 7-1 in a nonleague matchup a month ago.

“We know what Livermore has; we faced them this year already and they’re a great ballclub,” Casa Grande head coach Billy Brody said. “… We’ll be ready to go. We’ll get two good days of practice in and we’ll go to work.”

Partridge encountered her only real trouble in the top of the fifth when the Hornets (20-4) plated their lone run. With one out, Alameda recorded three straight singles, the last scoring a runner from second and making it a 3-1 game. But Partridge, not easily flappable, rebounded with a pop out and a line out to end the frame with two runners on bases.

Partridge also got some stellar plays from the defense behind her. First basem*n Marissa Brody made a diving infield catch on the first base line on a short pop-up in the fourth and then Hannah Edwards snuffed out any sort of rally in the seventh when she threw out the leadoff runner at first from right field after a hard-hit line drive.

“I think working the strike zone was something we did really well today,” said Partridge, who is now 14-1 with a 1.54 earned run average in the circle while batting .533 with seven home runs. “Defense was solid, making adjustments we needed to make, in the field or in the batter’s box — and me personally in the circle, because I wasn’t getting as much as I usually do, but you gotta work with what you get.”

The Gauchos took a 3-0 lead with single runs in the first, third and fourth innings.

An RBI double from Alex Giacomini got them on the board in the first inning before two fielding mistakes from the Hornets helped them extend their lead a few innings later.

A line drive base hit to left field from Abby McSweeney took a nasty hop as Alameda’s left fielder scooped down to field it, resulting in the ball skipping to the left field fence and allowing Lauren Ketchu to score all the way from first.

“I was just trying to think, ‘find grass’ so that (Lauren) could at least get to second or third base so that the batter behind me could hit her in,” McSweeney said of her RBI hit, “but those gopher holes out there definitely helped me.”

Then, with two outs in the fourth, Maeve Broadhead landed on second after another outfielder error from Alameda on a routine pop-up and scored a batter later on an RBI single from Marissa Brody to make it 3-0.

“We knew it was going to be a good game,” Marissa Brody said. “We’ve been confident in our defense all year, so we were never worried about it. Pregame in the circle we talked about how we need to take advantage of every base runner we get because we faced a good pitcher, and I think that’s exactly what we did today.”

Tuesday was just the third time this season that Alameda starting pitcher Jasmine Whorley, a University of Illinois-Chicago commit, has allowed three or more runs this season.

Casa Grande, which has won 15 games in a row, now has a chance to win back-to-back section titles for the first time in program history. Its Division 2 title last year was its first since 2001 and just the third in program history.

A fourth pennant, along with a successful title defense, is now within reach, but what is it going to take to beat a state-ranked Livermore team that’s hungry for revenge for a third straight time?

“Everything,” Partridge said. “All of us. I think if we all play the way we did today with all of our heart and our soul on the field, there’s no doubt that it’s going to be a game.”

You can reach Staff Writer Gus Morris at 707-304-9372 or gus.morris@pressdemocrat.com. On X (Twitter) @JustGusPD.