No. 2 Sheldon softball takes a ‘routine’ win, knocking off No. 3 Elk Grove in a thriller

Beyond the right centerfield fence Thursday afternoon, an Elk Grove softball fan stood on the roof of a nearby house to watch the host Thundering Herd take on Sheldon.

Usually, you don’t need to stand on the roof of a house to watch a high school softball game. The showdown between No. 2 Sheldon and No. 3 Elk Grove was worth it.

The Huskies took a 5-2 win in dramatic fashion, grinding through three and a half hours and nine innings of taut play to eventually beat the Thundering Herd.

Think of it as a preview of things to come. The starting lineups included just five seniors, as both programs figure to square off for regional supremacy again next spring.

“They all know each other and that’s a good thing. Amanda always does a great job with her team and her program and it’s always going to be good competition,” Sheldon coach Mary Jo Truesdale said.

Both teams played with fire almost the entire game. Sheldon issued 11 walks, with only one three-batter inning. Thundering Herd runners reached second base in eight of the nine innings.

But it was the Huskies offense that finally broke through in extra innings. Leading off the ninth inning, junior captain Jazzy Fines ripped a single to get on base and an error moved her over to second base while teammate Jaylee Ojo got on first.

With one out, D’auna Johnson hammered a single to right field, a line shot that nearly hit her teammate Ojo, who was leading off first base. Fines came around to score for a 3-2 lead. With runners on first and third and one out, Jaylee Marshall dropped a bunt down the first base line on a squeeze attempt. The throw sailed wide of the Sheldon catcher, who then couldn’t find the ball, allowing Ojo and Johnson to both score for the 5-2 margin.

The three-run lead seemed to free up Ojo, Sheldon’s sophomore pitcher, who nibbled around the edges of the strike zone all day to avoid Elk Grove’s dangerous bats. She issued a ninth-inning walk to Keeley Donath, who moved to second base on a passed ball. But Marshall struck out a batter and induced a soft flyball to end the Sheldon win.

Elk Grove coach Amanda Buck just shook her head after the game. The Herd had three runners reach third base with less than two outs and they didn’t score. The big hits just never came.

“That’s not backing up your pitcher very well,” Buck said. “Aissa (Silva) pitched a great game. One through nine (on Sheldon) can hit. We couldn’t back her up like I wish we would have. We held them to two runs for nine innings and that’s a tough team to hold to two runs for nine innings, so I have to give the defense a little bit of credit and I’ve gotta give Aissa a ton of credit for holding that type of team to two runs for nine innings.”

Silva looked strong early in the game, striking out the first three batters on 19 pitches in the first inning. Teammate Marissa Marshall, one of three seniors on the Herd, had a double and three walks to lead the offense. Freshman Taylor Fitzgerald had a double in the second and scored after hitting a single to tie the game in the sixth inning.

With the pressure always on from Elk Grove, Sheldon’s defense made the difference Thursday. The Huskies had no errors despite being in some tense situations.

“We’ve been really working on the little things back in practice. We talk to them about making the routine plays routine, and I think that’s what made the difference today,” Truesdale said. “You’re not always going to make those flashy plays, but if you can keep routine things routine, you’re going to win some games.”

That philosophy bore fruit in the bottom of the ninth inning with two outs and an Elk Grove runner on second. The Herd hit a soft fly ball into right field, but Fines, the second baseman, sprinted out and made the game-ending catch look routine.

Though the game was nip and tuck, Fines and her teammates were loose, laughing and cracking wise throughout.

“We’re really close and have a lot of fun together,” Fines said. “We practice really hard and when it’s game time, it’s just fun.”

And with plenty of young talent on both rosters, the rivalry will likely provide more moments worthy of standing on a neighbor’s roof to witness.

“It’s big between us because we play against each other and with each other in travel ball,” Fines said. “Just being able to come out and compete hard means a lot to us.”