Sports
Softball: Berean Christian Ready for NCS Championship
The Eagles will play No. 4 Cloverdale at 2 p.m. at Saint Mary's College
Sometimes a team can pleasantly surprise its coach, and that's what the Berean Christian Eagles have done this season.
The Eagles play the Cloverdale Eagles Saturday at 2 p.m. at St. Mary's College in Moraga for the North Coast Section Division IV girls' softball championship.
"This year it has all been about playing as a team," said coach Fran Lacey-Grant, who is in her 18th season coaching the Eagles. "You wouldn't have expected this kind of finish, but we played hard and worked hard. I wasn't sure how far we could go, but here we are."
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Berean Christian (17-7-1) and Cloverdale (19-4) have met for the NCS championship on two other occasions. Berean Christian won in 2004; Cloverdale took the title in 2005. Berean Christian also made it to the championship game in 2003, losing 1-0.
This season, both Eagles teams won two playoff games to advance to the championship game. Berean Christian finished fourth in the DVAL, but was seeded No. 3 in the playoff bracket because the school of 425 students competes in a league with much larger schools.
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Senior Jessie Griffith will pitch for Berean Christian Saturday. She has been the pitcher of record in all Eagles' games this season. Other standouts include senior catcher Alex McCullough, senior first baseman Kelcea Peterson, junior shortstop and leadoff hitter Kayla Mashburn, junior third baseman Brittany McMillen and senior center fielder Rebecca Halvorson.
"We always talk about having the toughness of a boxer and the girls have picked up on that analogy," Lacey-Grant said, "They like to be the aggressor. It's cool that that has been their mentality."
Cloverdale, coached by Margaret Fitzgerald, is led by junior firstbaseman Cherise McEnery, who owns a .525 batting average, and senior pitcher Kena Ruiz, who is hitting .459.
Berean Christian has outscored its opponents 197-93, while Cloverdale has outscored its foes 218-45.
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On the road leading into the St. Mary's campus, the field is on the right and parking is on the left.
