Sports
SOFTBALL: Surging Carlmont Hammers Santa Teresa
Scots blast to 14-3 win, set to meet five-time defending champ San Benito in CCS Division I semis.
Whatever the underclass-heavy Carlmont High softball team lacks in experience, it is more than making up for with talent and enthusiasm.
The Scots, who regularly start three freshmen and two sophomores and use three freshmen in a four-person pitching staff, have ridden their youth movement to a deep playoff run.
Carlmont extended its winning streak to seven games as the Scots advanced to the Central Coast Section Division I semifinals for the first time in three years after trouncing Santa Teresa 14-3 on Saturday afternoon at Hawes Field in Redwood City.
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“We’re very young, but we’ve played with a lot of poise and we’ve really played some very good softball,” Carlmont coach Jim Liggett said.
The fifth-seeded Scots (22-6) play perennial power San Benito (27-1) on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the later semifinal at PAL Stadium in San Jose.
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Top-seeded San Benito, which is coming off an 8-2 quarterfinal victory over Leigh on Saturday, is seeking its sixth consecutive Division I title.
With the Scots trailing 2-0 in the third, Missy Pekarek hit a one-out RBI triple and fellow freshman Gabriella Pons added a two-run single in a pivotal six-run outburst.
Carlmont broke the game open with a five-run sixth highlighted by Janelle Shiozaki’s two-run home run.
Junior Aurora Stottler added a two-run single in a three-run sixth.
Stottler (8-0) struck out five batters and allowed no walks in three shutout innings of two-hit ball in relief of starter Pekarek.
Taylor Yzaguirre led Carlmont with three hits, and Shiozaki contributed two hits and three RBIs.
“I thought we played really well today,” Liggett said. “The kids hit as well as they hit all year and Stottler did a fantastic job in relief just like she’s been doing all year.”
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Carlmont 14, Santa Teresa 3
C -- 006 053 -- 14-13 1
ST -- 201 000 -- 3 10 3
WP: Stottler (8-0). LP: Becerrial.
HR: Shiozaki (C). 3B: Pekarek (C). 2B: Jobke, Kornahrens (ST). 3 hits: Yzaguirre (C), Graeser (ST). 2 hits: Hansen, Shiozaki (C); Jobke, Rafter, Espinoza (ST). 3 RBI: Shiozaki (C). 2 RBI: McDonough, Stottler, Pons (C).
Records: Carlmont 22-6. Santa Teresa 23-6.