High School Softball Playoffs: Upstart Justin-Siena last team alive in Napa Valley

The last season a Justin-Siena softball team won multiple North Coast Section playoff games was 15 years ago, when the Braves won the Division 4 title.

Thanks to a 15-3 rout of Dublin's Brave Christian in five innings on May 20 and a 6-1 win at St. Vincent de Paul in Petaluma two days later, Justin-Siena is two wins away from matching that team's feat in Division 6.

The fifth-seeded Braves (9-13) were to visit No. 1 seed John Swett (12-9-1) for a semifinal at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 26, hoping to upset the Warriors and take on No. 2 Healdsburg or No. 3 Willits for the title on Friday or Saturday.

When Justin-Siena finished 2-16 a year ago, picking up its sixth and seventh wins in four seasons, few would have believed the Braves would be the Napa Valley's last team standing in 2026.

But it's not too surprising considering their seven seniors - Caiden Grimmer, Ale Guerrero, Payton Edwards, Jackie Morales, Grace Bradbury, Ashley Gonzalez and Giselle Melecio - came into their final high school season with a combined 20 years of varsity experience.

Grimmer - who played her first two seasons in Oregon - recently signed with the University of Texas at Dallas. Guerrero is committed to Solano Community College.

But it's not a senior-led squad. Freshman catcher Makeda Koford leads Justin-Siena with a .514 batting clip, 37 hits, 26 RBI, nine doubles and four triples. After Grimmer (.500, 34 hits, 22 RBI, six doubles, team-highs of three-homers and 31 runs scored) are sophomores Lilah Fern (.407, 15 RBI) and Georgia Andres (.400, 18 RBI), followed by Guerrero (.388, 26 RBI).

Another freshman, Lily Aguilera, leads the pitching staff with 47 innings.

The team has no juniors, so there's an age gap. It showed when the Braves finished 1-11 in Vine Valley Athletic League play. The campaign started with a 10-9 win over Napa High and ended with 11 consecutive blowout losses. Ten were in games stopped early because of the 10-run mercy rule, seven of them in five innings and the other three in six frames.

But they've jelled in the playoffs.

The freshmen led the way against St. Vincent de Paul. Fern went 2 for 4 with three RBI and Koford 2 for 4 with a double and RBI to lead a six-hit attack. Aguilera pitched all seven innings, allowing one earned run on four hits, three walks, one hit batter and five strikeouts.

Two days before, Justin-Siena pounded out 14 hits and drew nine walks against Brave Christian. The Braves scored 11 runs in the first inning and cruised.

Andres was 3 for 4 with four RBI, Koford 3 for 3 with one RBI, Edwards 2 for 2 with four RBI, and Aguilera 2 for 3 to lead the bats.

American Canyon 2, Granada 1, 9 innings

Kate Sosa won an extra-inning pitchers' duel for the seventh-seeded Wolves' over the No. 10 Matadors in a Division 1 opener on May 19. The senior hurled a three-hitter with 11 strikeouts, a walk and a hit batter, while Granada junior Kamryn Brannon gave up six hits and no free passes with 10 strikeouts.

Sosa gave up a two-out solo homer to sophomore Madeline Bittman in the top of the ninth. But in the bottom half, Deja Montgomery's leadoff single and fellow senior Madison Del Castillo's two-run, walk-off homer lifted the hosts to victory.

Del Castillo also had a double in going 2 for 4 to lead the Wolves' six-hit attack. They also got base hits from Brianna Velasco, Raquel Winterburn and Sosa.

San Ramon Valley 6, American Canyon 3

In a quarterfinal battle of the Wolves on Friday night in Danville, second-seeded SRV put up two-spots in the first and third innings before American Canyon (20-4) pulled within 4-3 with a four-hit, three-run rally in the top of the fifth. But SRV (21-6) answered with another two-spot in the bottom of the fifth, and sophomore pitcher Lila McLeod completed her eight-hitter with 12 strikeouts and two walks for the win.

Sosa also went the distance and yielded eight hits, while striking out five and walking one.

Sosa was 2 for 3 with a double and RBI single, Ianna Lobao 2 for 3, Winterburn 1 for 2 with an RBI single, Del Castillo 1 for 4 with an RBI single, and Montgomery 1 for 4.

Vintage 9, Berkeley 7

In a Division 2 opener on May 19, the sixth-seeded Crushers won despite getting out-hit 15-8 by the No. 11 Yellowjackets (16-7). They trailed 4-1 before flipping the momentum with a seven-run explosion in the bottom of the fifth, but it was far from over.

After Vintage tacked on another run in the sixth to up 9-4, relief pitcher Carlee Carter gave up three runs with one out in the seventh. But with the bases loaded, the sophomore struck out the next two batters to get the save. Malina Viruet pitched the first 4 2/3 innings for the win, allowing four runs (three earned) on eight hits, two walks and nine strikeouts. Carter allowed three earned runs on seven hits, no walks and three strikeouts.

Samantha Kennedy was 2 for 3 with two RBI, Desiree Griffith 2 for 2 with a solo homer and one RBI, and Noelle Rofkahr 1 for 3 with an RBI to lead Vintage at the plate. Sydney Morton and Ella Gomez each chipped in a double and Hannah Hanes had a single.

Northgate 4, Vintage 2

In their quarterfinal on Friday in Walnut Creek, the Crushers (15-12) grabbed a 2-1 lead with a pair of runs in the top of the fifth. But the third-seeded Broncos (13-10) answered with a three-spot in the bottom half. After a leadoff triple and error, winning pitcher Ashley Herman blasted a two-run homer.

Each team left three runners on base after that. Herman, a senior, allowed two earned runs on five hits, six walks and 13 strikeouts. Viruet went the distance for the Crushers, giving up three earned runs on six hits, two walks, a hit batter and five strikeouts.

Vintage's hits came from Aliyah McDonald (2 for 4), Ella Gomez (1 for 3, two RBI), Kennedy (1 for 3) and Viruet (1 for 3).

Analy 5, St. Helena 4

The Saints dropped their playoff opener at home by the same score as when they lost to No. 6 Windsor in Division 2 last year, this time falling to the 12th-seeded Tigers from Sebastopol on May 19.

St. Helena (17-7) led 4-2 going into the top of the seventh, when Analy scored three runs on three singles and two sacrifice flies.

Saints' hits came from Lillian Grimes (2 for 4, RBI), Olive Filippini (1 for 4, RBI), Leyla Blanton (1 for 3, RBI), Journey Penterman (1 for 2), Ellie Carmichael (1 for 4) and Ada Blanton, who pitched an eight-hitter with three earned runs, a hit batter and two strikeouts.

Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.

This story was originally published May 25, 2026 at 6:13 PM.