Prep softball: With grit and Grimes, Del Oro guts out ninth section championship
Caroline Grimes sat in the doctor’s office in Roseville on Thursday with a throbbing right foot and a glum expression.
The Del Oro High School ace was told in so many stern words that there was no way she would be able to pitch Saturday afternoon. Repeat: Just no way. Not with a 2-inch slice darn near to the bone on her foot from a freak sliding glass door mishap during a swimming party.
So Grimes sought a second opinion: her own.
Facing a powerhouse St. Francis team for the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II championship, Grimes hobbled, limped, labored and grimaced. And then won. In as gutsy and spirited an outing as one could imagine, Grimes sweated it out to the final inning as the top-seeded Golden Eagles held off the No. 2 Troubadours 10-9 at Sacramento City College.
The gash was on her pivot foot, the one she uses to push off for power when she unleashes a pitch. She said she should have gotten stitches. Instead, she used any bit of tape and gauze and inner pride to hold her foot together. About the only time Grimes didn’t drag her leg was when everyone was jumping and celebrating. Then the pain set in. It still didn’t mask her unbridled joy.
“The doctor told me, ‘Absolutely not!’ when I asked if I could pitch,” Grimes said, grins replacing the grimace. “But I had to pitch. We’ve come so far as a team. It seemed stupid to not at least give it a try, so I did. I mean, it’s one game, and it’s the biggest game of our high school careers. I had to pitch.”
This was Del Oro’s ninth section banner and first in 20 seasons. The staying power for the Golden Eagles of Placer County is remarkable, spanning from coaches Mike Takayama to Steve Evans to Sean Erickson. Erickson has been at the varsity helm for 17 seasons after a long stretch as the junior varsity head coach. He was emotional in trying to comprehend how he wound up as one of the section title winners for such an esteemed program and from a school that has won a lot of blue banners over a lot of sports for decades.
The coach thanked and credited his players, their families, the school and community.
“I’m just so proud,” Erickson said.
He was especially proud of his pitcher, who was every bit human after producing a stellar season in which runs were hard to come by. Against St. Francis, Grimes gave up 13 hits, six earned runs and struck out four and walked one to improve to 15-3. She fired 127 pitches, each of them painful.
“That young lady has been through quite a week,” Erickson said. “She got banged up in a Powder Puff football game. Then she cuts her foot, really bad. I mean, bad. Probably needed stitches. She argued with me, ‘I’ve got a section championship game to pitch. I will be ready. I will be there.’ And wow. She gutted it out against a great team. It was so impressive.”
Del Oro (26-4) outslugged St. Francis (26-4) in a meeting of star-power pitchers. Hope Jenkins struck out nine for St. Francis.
On the topic of grit, Kendal Manley can relate. Del Oro’s senior slugger overcame two major knee reconstruction surgeries, derailing a prep career before it could even gain traction. She was cleared to compete in December. Manley belted a triple and a home run Saturday, her fifth successive game with a homer, all in the playoffs. Del Oro as a team has 43 home runs, with some season left to play as Del Oro and St. Francis advance to the first Northern California Regional tournament, a single-elimination event at home sites, starting Tuesday.
Manley’s two-run blast pushed Del Oro ahead 9-4 in the bottom of the sixth inning, and then Grimes crushed a solo shot for a 10-4 lead. And yes, Grimes found the strength to hobble around the bases and into the welcoming arms of her teammates waiting at home plate.
“Just remarkable,” Erickson said of Manley’s journey and power surge. “Two knee surgeries and she tells me, ‘I’m coming back. I hope to contribute.’ She contributed!’”
Grimes was gassed in the final inning after recording four consecutive scoreless innings, but Erickson wanted her to get that final out. Grace Jenkins in St. Francis’ final at-bats homered to pull her team to within 10-5. Her twin sister Hope drove in a run to make it 10-6. Kayla Garber then hammered a two-run homer, and suddenly, it was 10-8. Amy Aubrey had a ground-out RBI to make it a 10-9 game with two outs with the overflow crowd standing in anticipation. Gabby Enyart then chased down a deep fly ball into center field for the final out, and the celebration was on.
Grimes wasn’t just relieved. She was complimentary of the Troubadours and their resolve, especially the batterymate tandem of the Jenkins twins, 4.0-GPA students headed to Connecticut on scholarship.
“They’re great players, just phenomenal, and that twin thing that they have going as a pitcher and catcher was tough to beat,” said Grimes, a 3.9-GPA student headed to UC Davis.
On the topic of effort and intensity, it starts at Del Oro with leadoff batter Jenna Birch. The star second baseman headed to Oregon State is either smiling off the field or winning any staredown competition while in play.
“She’s the most intense player, and I put so much trust in Jenna, all of them,” Grimes said. “When Jenna looks deep into my eyes the way she does and says, ‘You can do it!’, it gives me more energy.”
Birch comes from a tremendous sports family. The kid sister to one-time Bee All-Metro football players Andrew and Jacob Birch, Birch has pulled perfect grades all through high school while continuing a softball legacy. During the holidays at the dinner table, she holds her own on whom the best girl athlete is in the family. Her mother Jennifer Sherman (now Birch) was a Bee All-Metro player whose 1991 Del Oro team won a section softball championship under coach Takayama. Birch’s aunt and Jennifer’s sister, Lisa Sherman, was a two-time Bee Player of the Year for championship Del Oro softball teams in the 1990s under coach Evans.
Birch’s father, Steve Birch, was the longtime Del Oro defensive coordinator when the Golden Eagles piled up section football championships, including winning a CIF State championship in 2015.
Before the game, Jennifer Birch, the retired longtime coach at Roseville High, said she could talk for an hour about her pride for her kid.
“She’s just amazing, our leader,” Jennifer Birch said.
Said Jenna Birch, “My mom and aunt, they taught me everything about this sport. They taught me how to compete.”
On the team, Birch said, “We’re truly the best of friends. We hang out all the time. I’m so blessed to be with these girls.”
On the efforts of her star pitcher, Birch said, “I’m so proud of her. Yesterday, she was on crutches. We were worried. Just told her, ‘You can do this!’”
St. Francis was in its first section title game since 1996. Francesca Guererra, Kayla Garber and Grace Jenkins combined for six hits. Garber had a two-run home run.