Old school’s still cool. Elk Grove softball joins baseball with CIF section crown
There is an old school in the southern tip of Sacramento County that continues to flex its considerable muscle in a remarkable showing of staying power.
You may have heard of them if you follow high school sports: the Elk Grove Thundering Herd.
Two days after the Elk Grove baseball team won its 12th CIF Sac-Joaquin Section championship, the softball squad came through with a gritty effort on Saturday afternoon at Sacramento State, defeating eight-time section champion Del Oro of Placer County 3-2 to claim the Division II championship.
It’s the third section banner for the Thundering Herd in softball, all since 2004, to go with six runner-up finishes, and the hardware will find its place on a campus that opened in 1964 and has aged marvelously with the addition of new buildings. The school was established on Main Street in 1893, making it one of the oldest places of learning in Northern California.
The softball success this spring? Not bad for a team that has no seniors on the roster but continues to play beyond its years. Thundering Herd baseball players attend softball games to cheer their classmates, including Saturday, and the softball team has done the same.
“We really support each other on campus,” said Brooklyn Landrum, the offensive star for Elk Grove in the title game who played a role in the game to even get to this stage. .
In a semifinal, Elk Grove rallied to eliminate top-seeded Tracy 12-10 in extra innings, scoring three runs in the seventh and three in the ninth. At Shea Stadium against the Golden Eagles, the Herd took down the defending CIF NorCal large-school champion in a game every bit as intense and entertaining as advertised.
Landrum crushed a two-run home run to left field for a 3-0 lead in the top of the second, just her second homer of the season. She excitedly cruised around the bases and was mobbed by teammates at home plate.
Elk Grove led 1-0 after Tamiayh Ward doubled home Kadence Pettis to open the scoring in the first, then the Herd held off the Golden Eagles behind Thundering Herd pitcher Madelyn Benzler. She fired a complete-game six-hitter with eight strikeouts as Elk Grove extended its winning streak to 12 in moving to 28-4 on the season.
Both teams advance to the CIF NorCal tournament that starts at home sites on June 2.
“We are young,” said Herd coach Amanda Buck, a star basketball and softball player at Elk Grove from 1998-2000. “No seniors, five freshmen starting. Just heart, a ton of heart, a ton of sophomores. And I’ve got my leaders who are juniors, too.”
One of those juniors is pitcher Kaylee Buck, daughter of the coach.
“She didn’t pitch today, but she was a leader in the dugout, and she’s our heart and soul, and she’s behind this team. Our team just fights. They don’t like to lose.”
Here is a sample of Herd youth: The team’s leading hitter is freshman Kadence Pettis with a .486 average, followed by Tamiyah Ward at .440. The leading home run hitter is Benzler with seven, and she has a team-best 1.04 ERA. She, too, is a freshman.
Kinslee Buck, another daughter of the coach, has three homers, and she’s a freshman. Landrum, who crushed the early home run, is a sophomore. When Landrum homered and was rounding the bases, Buck jumped for joy from her third-base coaching spot. She hasn’t lost an ounce of competitive drive. The coach’s grin didn’t leave her the rest of the afternoon.
“If I lose my zest to compete, I’ll retire,” Buck said. “I love coaching this game. I love coaching these girls, these young women that are just growing and who just compete. Nobody’s going to work harder than us, and I’m going to give everything I can to these girls because they give everything to me.”
Del Oro gave its veteran coach, Sean Erickson, all it could, too. The Golden Eagles pulled to within 3-2 in the bottom of the fourth inning when Avery Enyart singled to right to score Avyn Brower. Del Oro scored both of its runs in the fourth, and ace pitcher Mikayla Finn was gritty in defeat, allowing six hits and striking out four.
Del Oro is 20-8, having tied rival Whitney for the Sierra Foothill League championship.
Elk Grove’s staying power has withstood the addition of new schools dotted across the Elk Grove Unified School District. The school no longer has a robust enrollment of 2,600 from the glory days of the 1990s and early 2000s, but they still stand tall at just under 1,700 students.
“We’re one of the smallest schools around now, but we draw good kids,” coach Buck said. “We have great kids at Elk Grove High School. We have great teachers, we have great coaches, we have a great athletic director (John Heffernan), and we have great administration that supports athletics. I’m so lucky to be part of it.”
Heffernan, also the school’s longtime football coach, said the softball success starts with the coach.
“Great coach, great leader,” Heffernan said before peeling off to high-five and hug players before a team shot in front of the scoreboard.
