SAN JOSE – Willow Glen’s season came to an end at the same point as last year, in the Northern California Division II softball championship game.
No happy ending this time, however.
The Rams, attempting to repeat as NorCal Division II champs, went up against a strong Capital Christian-Sacramento team Saturday and lost 6-0.
In retrospect it’s a mystery why Capital Christian (26-3-1) was seeded as low as eighth in Division II after the team went on the road and won three games in dominating fashion by a combined score of 20-1.
The Cougars hit 29 home runs this season compared to 10 for Willow Glen. They jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first and added two more in the second.
Capital Christian celebrates after winning against Willow Glen in the NorCal Division I championship game at Willow Glen High School in San Jose , Calif., Saturday, June 1, 2024. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
That 5-0 hole was too deep for the Rams to climb out of. Capital Christian pitcher Ayla Tuua (15-1) threw a two-hit shutout with two walks and nine strikeouts.
Willow Glen (24-8) has ridden the arm of sophomore pitcher Alanna Clincy the last two years to two NorCal championship game appearances. Clincy allowed only three hits Saturday, but had control issues, walking seven and hitting a batter in addition to her nine strikeouts. Add in the three errors Willow Glen committed and it was not a game for the scrapbooks.
“She may not have had her `A’ game today,” Willow Glen coach Don Spingola said of Clincy. “But it was enough. The errors cost us and the walks. When you play good teams like that you can’t have mental errors, you can’t give free bases. We didn’t make them earn it today and that’s the result right there.”
Capital Christian celebrates after winning against Willow Glen in the NorCal Division I championship game at Willow Glen High School in San Jose , Calif., Saturday, June 1, 2024. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
Following a strikeout and a walk to the first two batters of the game, Tuua, who hit 10 home runs this season, got hold of a Clincy offering and drove it high up off the left-field wall for a run-scoring double. A second run scored on a passed ball and a third run came home after a batter was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
The two runs in the second scored as the result of two walks (one intentional) and two errors. Clincy found herself down 5-0 despite having allowed only one hit as the Rams came to bat in the bottom of the second.
Hailey Ocumen singled and Sierra Wilson drew a walk to start the bottom of the second. But Tuua retired the next three batters, two on strikes, and went on to set down 17 of the final 18 batters she faced.
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Spingola was asked how Tuua compared to Kate Munnerlyn of St. Francis, who shut out Willow Glen in the Central Coast Section playoffs.
“We clocked her at 68, 69 miles per hour, so she throws harder than Munnerlyn,” he said. “Against good pitching you have to capitalize on your opportunities, and we didn’t.”
So Willow Glen’s season ended one win short of a repeat NorCal title. The Rams lost a couple key seniors off last year’s team. They lose no one off this team. So a return to the NorCal finals next year is certainly not beyond the realm of possibility.
“I think we’ll be a better team next year,” said Ocumen, who hit.383 this season.
“We return everybody,” Spingola said. “Next year we’ll have a half-dozen, or seven or eight seniors. We expect to be in the same position again next year and go at it again. Our expectation is nothing less than where we’re at right now.”
Willow Glen’s Katelynn Dilbeck (25) is emotional after Willow Glen lost to Capital Christian during the NorCal Division I championship game at Willow Glen High School in San Jose , Calif., Saturday, June 1, 2024. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
Capital Christian’s Bree Johnson (24) throws the ball to first base against Willow Glen in the sixth inning during the NorCal Division I championship game at Willow Glen High School in San Jose , Calif., Saturday, June 1, 2024. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
Capital Christian’s McKayla Fulmer (30) dives into home against Willow Glen in the first inning during the NorCal Division I championship game at Willow Glen High School in San Jose , Calif., Saturday, June 1, 2024. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
Willow Glen’s Cianna Miranda (24) catches a fly ball against Capital Christian in the fifth inning during the NorCal Division I championship game at Willow Glen High School in San Jose , Calif., Saturday, June 1, 2024. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
Willow Glen’s Alanna Clincy (89) pitches against Capital Christian in the fifth inning during the NorCal Division I championship game at Willow Glen High School in San Jose , Calif., Saturday, June 1, 2024. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
Willow Glen’s Sienna Wilson (1) makes a diving catch in the third inning against Capital Christian during the NorCal Division I championship game at Willow Glen High School in San Jose , Calif., Saturday, June 1, 2024. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
Willow Glen’s Maia Mendoza (22) throws the ball to first base against Capital Christian in the fourth inning during the NorCal Division I championship game at Willow Glen High School in San Jose , Calif., Saturday, June 1, 2024. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
