Bulldogs formed a circle around a hurting teammate, and found perfection there

Fresno State senior Hailey Dolcini was in the circle, working a perfect game. One, two, three in the first inning. One, two, three in the second and third. One, two, three in the fourth.

Somewhere in there, pretty late in the game, it hit coach Linda Garza what was unfolding that Saturday at Margie Wright Diamond. The dugout stuck to superstition as the Bulldogs’ ace powered along; did not talk about it, tried not to even think about it. It’s just not done. All they could do really was hope and hold their breath, anyway. It was up to Dolcini and catcher Kelcey Carrasco, two friends going back to travel ball when they both were in high school.

They are teammates and roommates along with infielder Haley Fuller and Hannah Chappell, a thrower on the women’s track team. They also navigate that 43 feet between them on the softball field so well, and they got it done, an 11-0 victory over Sacramento State with 15 Hornets batters going to the plate and 15 Hornets batters going right back to the dugout.

It was the first perfect game for Fresno State since 2015, a span of 293 games, and also the perfect game for the Bulldogs’ battery, coming one year and one day after Carrasco’s father, Rudy, a popular administrator at Tulare Western High and a fixture at Bulldogs’ softball games, had passed away after his car was struck by a drunk driver a few blocks from work.

Over in just one hour and 41 minutes, it was a bolt out of nowhere, like any perfect game, and for Dolcini and Carrasco it was a bright light for both, something to grab onto and carry forward.

There’s a lot to unpack there, the emotions going into and coming out of it.

But, Garza said, “Maybe that’s how it was supposed to be …”

Rudy Carrasco’s death: ‘Shock to all of us’

The Bulldogs were practicing late that day. They had road series scheduled that season in the cold-weather cities in the Mountain West Conference, so Garza had them work under the lights once a week. It was chillier at night, good prep for what they might encounter at Boise State, Utah State or Nevada.

Before practice, Carrasco had checked her phone. There was a text from her mother, Trisha. “Hey, your dad has been in an accident. He’s responsive and I’ll keep you updated as the night goes on …’

It hit hard, that text. Carrasco’s grandfather, Rudy’s dad, had been killed in an auto accident. A few hours later, Rudy Carrasco passed away from injuries suffered in the crash. He was 49.

“His passion for our students and helping students is just second to none,” Tulare Western principal Kevin Covert said, the following day. “It was a shock to all of us and it’s tough, tough to get over this.

“But at the same time our hearts are broken for his family. Our hearts, thoughts and prayers just go out to his wife and three kids, because it’s just devastating right now.”

The alleged drunk driver, Izeah Quinton Almaguer, was charged last March with felony counts of second-degree murder, gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, driving under the influence of alcohol causing injury, driving with a .08% BAC causing injury and misdemeanor driving when privilege suspended with prior conviction(s) and misdemeanor unlawful vehicle operation.

According to Tulare Police, Almaguer had a blood alcohol content of 0.13, well above the legal limit of .08, when running through a stop sign at North H Street and West San Joaquin in Tulare at a high-rate of speed and hitting Carrasco’s vehicle broadside, on the driver’s side. He previously had been convicted of a DUI.

Almaguer, who faces life in prison, has a preliminary hearing conference set for April 16.

Bulldogs were there, every step of the way

For Carrasco, making it back has been difficult at times. Good days, and bad. Her father was her hero, she said. Carrasco had been diagnosed with leukemia when she was 3 years old and was treated at Valley Children’s Hospital, but once clear and happy and free they found softball, Rudy and Kelcey. They would spend hours in the car, driving to practices and tournaments all over the state.

“He just fell in love with the game,” said Carrasco, who started her college career at Michigan State before transferring back home to the Valley in 2019. “We were always the road dogs.”

When Carrasco returned to the softball diamond, a few days after her father’s funeral, she was surrounded by teammates, by family and friends. Fuller walked with her into the stadium, down into the Bulldogs’ dugout.

“On the big screen I see, ‘Rudy Strong’ plastered on that board and I was kind of losing it, and she was there,” Carrasco said.

After the game, a victory over North Dakota State, as Carrasco looked into the stands, Dolcini had her arm around her shoulders.

“I don’t have my dad sending me good luck texts before every game anymore,” Carrasco said. “I don’t have my dad to talk to after I have a bad practice. I don’t have my dad waiting for me after the games in the stands.

“That grieving part has been tough, and going through this last month, it really takes it out of you. But, God, my teammates have been there. It has been a remarkable thing.”

They’ve been there every day since; every step of the way, Carrasco said.

On the hard days, the rough ones, Dolcini would make sure Carrasco ate, that she was on time, at practice, that the school work was done … and the laundry.

“One thing that she has always exuded is a level of love she has for her teammates and a passion for the game,” Garza said. “You can see it. She gets excited when the game is exciting to watch. She’s pumped when her team has success. As a catcher, you can see it, and she gets to celebrate with Dolcini often. But when everything was going on, it was neat to be able to see her teammates reciprocate the relationship she has always had with them. She got to lean on her teammates, and softball, to get through a tough time.

“Having lost a parent myself, friends, family, supporters, even sport are all you have. You can’t express the emotions that you’re actually feeling and so sometimes being in a room with somebody or being able to play softball, it allows you to put your focus into something that you can feel proud of again, and be happy again.”

Back on the diamond

The Bulldogs didn’t get that for the longest time. The coronavirus pandemic shut down 2020 when the Bulldogs were 21-4, ranked 25th in the nation, and Fresno State was one of the last Division I schools to bring its student-athletes back to campus.

Dolcini and Carrasco would work out in the summer, and wonder if they would get a chance to play again.

“We just leaned on each other and pushed through and we’re reaping the benefits of that now, sticking to the process and trusting and putting that work in,” Dolcini said.

Fast forward a few months and the Bulldogs are right now on a nice run in the Mountain West.

Dolcini was off to a slow start before throwing that perfect game, just 1-3 with an ERA of 2.37. But over her past 10 starts she is 9-0 with an ERA of 0.68, allowing just 36 hits while striking out 95 batters in 62 2/3 innings. She added a no-hitter in beating San Jose State, and was selected the conference pitcher of the week four weeks in a row, tying a record set by former Bulldogs ace Jill Compton in 2015.

Carrasco was batting .273, but is hitting .319 over that same stretch and is leading the Bulldogs with 24 RBIs in 24 games.

Fresno State, which was picked to win the Mountain West in a preseason coach’s poll, started the season 2-5, but is 17-7 heading into a weekend series against New Mexico having won 15 of 17 games since that Feb. 27 rout of Sacramento State, the first game of a doubleheader sweep.

It was more than perfect, Dolcini said. “We definitely feel him with us every game, but we had said just before that game, ‘He has the best seat in the house,’” she said. “We play for him. We play for each other. We play for the love of this game. He was absolutely there.”

They were close, too. Rudy Carrasco, she said, was her Fresno father. The day he was killed, Carrasco and Dolcini’s parents were texting, making dinner plans for that weekend at the Judi Garman Classic in Fullerton.

“My parents are seven hours away so he would make sure that we were always taken care of in our apartment and was always sending Amazon packages with stuff,” Dolcini said. “He was the ultimate family man and an all-around great man. He was extremely close with my parents so it was hard for them, as well.”

Prior to the Sacramento State game, they took one of the “Play for Rudy” T-shirts they had made last year and placed it on the seat at Margie Wright Diamond he used to stand by; stand, because he was always on the move, too nervous or pumped or just into it to sit for too long.

Then they went out and were perfect, and that, Garza said, has pushed the Bulldogs forward. Dolcini struck out eight and the Hornets did not put a ball in play into the outfield – the only out recorded more than 60 feet from home was a foul out to right fielder Adrianna Noriega. Had the Bulldogs not put up 11 runs, the game ending after five innings due to the run rule, no one doubts Dolcini would have kept going, and going.

“I’m just so grateful that I was able to come back to the Valley, for a couple of reasons,” Carrasco said. “One, being close to home. If this had happened when I was at Michigan State I don’t know if I would have been able to go back and start playing as quickly as I did. And, two, dad got to experience and see my games for that year and a half.

“When I was at Michigan State for those two years, he got to catch 10 games, maybe. I’m just grateful to be here and just grateful that Coach Garza gave me the opportunity to come back to the Valley and play for Fresno State. But, along with that, I don’t think I could have been able to be OK without my team, without their full support through everything. Whatever I needed, they were always there for me.

“It’s an incredible thing to have a group of people like that to surround you.”

Postscript: More Dolcini gems

Dolcini and Carrasco teamed up for another special moment in the New Mexico series opener, Dolcini throwing a no-hitter with a school-record-tying 18 strikeouts in a 6-0 victory.

Saturday brought another five-inning perfect game. Dolcini struck out 12 in the 14-0 victory to complete the series sweep.

This story was originally published April 2, 2021 at 5:00 AM.