CIF Softball: Broncos Edge TP but Fall to Grossmont

Despite three home runs that produced all their runs, the Rancho Bernardo girls softball team fell to Grossmont High 7-4 at the Poway Sportsplex on Thursday night, knocking the Broncos out of the San Diego Section Division I playoffs.

Pitching with only minutes rest between games, Grossmont senior Rachel Stalford had 12 strikeouts in leading the Hillers to the win and a berth in Saturday's championship game at UCSD (7 p.m.) against Poway.

Stalford also pitched against Poway earlier in the evening in the double-elimination tournament. The Titans blanked Grossmont 2-0 to remain the only unbeaten team in the tourney.

Aubrie May and Hayley Kasden each had two hits for Grossmont, which benefited from five RB errors.

After Madeline McIntyre and Danielle Knoetze hit solo shots to give RB a 2-0 lead in the second, Grossmont countered with five runs in the bottom of the inning and built the lead with single runs in the fourth and fifth frames. That was enough to offset a two-run homer by Madison Jones in the fifth.

Rancho Bernardo 1, Torrey Pines 0 (8 innings)

After finishing the league season in a dead heat with one another, it’s only fitting that Torrey Pines and Rancho Bernardo took extra innings to decide their quarterfinal game on Thursday afternoon. 

RB and Torrey Pines split their two games, finishing out the year in a three-way tie with Mt. Carmel for second place in the Palomar League, behind top-ranked Poway, the league champion.

Their playoff battle was a pitcher’s duel between two underclassmen who were backed by offenses struggling to get anything going. Through seven innings, the game remained scoreless.

In top of the eighth, the Broncos were finally able to manufacture a run.

Madison Jones led off the inning with a double to right, then moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Megan Andrew. With two outs, Madeline McIntyre was able to play hero with her 14th RBI of the year, beating the throw to first on an infield single that scored Jones for the game's lone run.

The 1-0 victory enabled RB to reach the semis for the third consecutive year, before the loss to Grossmont ended the Broncos' hopes. They finished the season with an 18-14-1 record.

Falcons sophomore Rachel Nasland had a stellar performance on the mound, going all eight innings, allowing just one run on six hits, and striking out nine Broncos. 

Her counterpart, Broncos freshman Sara White, only seemed to get stronger as the game went on. White also went the distance, giving up just three hits and striking out eight on the way to her 16th victory of the year.

“It’s a great feeling. I’m confident out there on every pitch and I’m just having a lot of fun,” said White. “Now we have to keep the momentum going, stay confident, and keep up all the good work.”

“We gave it our all for eight innings, we’re proud of our team effort, but we've just got to give it to RB, they’re a great team,” said Nasland, who already has a full ride to Notre Dame in her future. “It’s always disappointing to lose so close, but that’s what makes the games exciting.”

For the Falcons (23-11-1), it was their second straight heartbreaking overtime loss deep in a CIF postseason. They lost last year to El Camino in the championship game by the same score in eight innings.

Next year, Torrey Pines very well may make another deep playoff run.

“Our goal is to win CIF. We’ll be bringing back eight starters, and if we can stay healthy, the sky is the limit,” said Falcons coach Jon Moore. “We’re young and talented and we get all of our pitchers back next season.”

After winning a play-in game and then falling 6-2 to Poway in the full-field opener last week, the Broncos ran off three straight wins before their second loss eliminated them.

“(The win over Torrey) was an emotional game, but most of these players are used to playing multiple games in a day,” said RB coach Summer Downs between games. “Plus, knowing that the winner goes to the finals, I think adrenaline will take over any pain they might feel.”  

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More on RB softball at Max Preps.