Soquel knocks off Woodside, advances to first section championship game since 2012 | CCS softball
HOLLISTER - Soquel High's softball team won five games last season. They've turned things around with an infusion of young blood and a new coaching staff.
The Knights, who featured one senior, two juniors, two sophomores and four freshmen in their latest starting lineup, turned in another solid postseason showing and knocked off Woodside 4-2 in the Central Coast Section Division II semifinals at Hollister High on Wednesday.
"We've talked all season about playing a good brand of softball, one we can be proud of and one that people want to come and watch," said Frank DeBernardo, in the first season of his second stint as the Knights' head coach. "I feel like that's what's developing here.
"It's nice to see the turnaround. It happened a lot quicker than anyone thought."
Freshman pitcher Kiyomi Dunlap kept a solid hitting Wildcats offense in check, and the Knights' offense did its part, smacking five of its six hits for extra bases.
The Wildcats entered the semifinals averaging six runs a game and boasted a .305 team batting average with 62 extra base hits.
Dunlap held them to two hits, issued two walks, and gave up two earned runs in her complete-game victory. She struck out eight batters and beaned one.
No. 4 seed Soquel (20-7 overall), the runner-up in the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League behind Aptos, faces No. 7 Monterey (15-10) for the title at San Jose City College on Saturday at 3 p.m.
The Knights, seeking their first section crown in program history, will make their second section championship game appearance. They last made the final in D-III in 2012, when they suffered a 5-3 loss to Santa Catalina.
The Toreadores, the fourth-place finisher in the Pacific Coast Athletic League's Gabilan Division, followed up their 3-2 upset of No. 2 Homestead in the first round by ousting No. 6 Burlingame 10-3 in the semifinals.
"We respect all of our opponents, but we're not going to fear anybody," DeBernardo said.
Soquel took a 1-0 in the second inning against No. 8 Woodside, the fifth-place finisher in the Peninsula Athletic League's Bay Division. The Knights tacked on two more runs in the third to go up 3-0, and capped scoring with one run in the fifth.
Knights junior Emma Niizawa hit a pair of doubles and had two RBI. She was hit by a pitch in the second inning and scored on freshman Sophia Kilby's RBI double.
In the third, Soquel senior Eliza Stevens doubled, was sacrificed over to third, and scored on a play at the plate on a hit and run to shortstop that allowed Dunlap to reach on a fielder's choice. Niizawa followed with an RBI double to plate Dunlap.
Woodside rallied for a pair of runs in the fourth, when the Wildcats scored on an RBI triple and a fielder's choice.
Dunlap doubled and scored on Niizawa's second double in the fifth inning.
IF YOU GO
CCS D-II championship
Soquel vs. Monterey
When Saturday, 3 p.m.
Where: San Jose City College
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