Sophomore adds to break-out season in 13-2 league victory over
Lick
MORGAN HILL — Heather Johnson spun the bright yellow softball in her right hand, got the sign from her catcher and delivered the first warm-up pitch the sophomore third baseman had thrown in a game in seven years.
Johnson beaned her pretend left-handed batter, delighting a few fans at Sobrato High School.
No matter. She was out of the inning three nonfictional batters later.
“It was a lot of fun just to be back out there,” she said. “But coach probably won’t have me do it again.”
It was that kind of afternoon Friday at SHS, where the Lady Bulldogs had their way in beating Lick, an up-and-down addition to the Santa Teresa Division, 13-2 in five innings.
Johnson provided comic relief in the fourth inning to go with a dead-serious 2-for-3 day at the plate. A week after batting 5 for 5 against Del Mar, she added two more keynotes to her unsophomoric season, blasting a two-run homer to left in the second off Lerissa Gutierrez and pulling an RBI triple down the line in the fourth.
“She’s always been a natural hitter,” said SHS manager Gene Ciraulo, who has coached Johnson for five seasons going back to travel ball. “I wasn’t sure how she’d adjust to high school, but she’s always hit well.”
Consider Friday’s victory a promising sign of things to come. The Bulldogs will be strapped for pitching next season after senior righty Frankie Kellett graduates this summer. Johnson hopes to join current junior Katie Machado in the rotation.
“I want to start getting ready for it, so I asked coach at the beginning of the year if I could pitch,” Johnson said. “He said I could if we were beating a team by a lot of runs.”
Despite being 3-3 and several games out of first place, the team has not lost drive for this season. The Bulldogs originally hoped to place in the top two, matching a program-best feat, but are now focused on finishing strong in the top four.
“I’m pretty confident with our team and where we are,” Ciraulo said. “I really like the girls’ attitude. They’re still working hard.”
After the Comets (2-3 league) put three of their first four batters on base and scored on an overthrow, Sobrato appeared headed for a possible upset. Things fell into place, though, after catcher Kallie Klinger threw to Johnson at third to nail Desiree Richardson on a steal attempt. Machado tallied her first of two strikeouts to retire the side, and the Bulldogs’ bats took over from there.
“We were taking them kind of easy at first. We definitely underestimated them,” Johnson said. “In the second inning, we really came back.”
Nicole Kiles tied the game, 1-1, with her run-scoring single to left in the first. After Lick’s Katherine Cantarero answered with an RBI double in the second, Sobrato broke the game open with a seven-run bottom half. Kiles and Kaley Lefore drove in one run apiece during the spree, and freshman left fielder Taylor Di Sibio collected two RBIs during an errant play. Johnson’s second-pitch drive put the game out of reach.
Emilie Nunez stroked a run-scoring single in the third to make it 9-2, and Di Sibio added two more RBIs an inning later, giving her four on the day. Klinger also drove in a run.
Kiles, Kellett and Nunez finished 2 for 3 with the latter two doubling. Junior shortstop Nicole Larson scored twice after being hit by pitches in the first and second, when Sobrato batted through the lineup.
The Bulldogs parlayed their momentum into a decent showing at the Watsonville Tournament last weekend. Sobrato beat Santa Cruz 4-2 in the opener, then lost 10-0 to Archbishop Mitty and 8-7 to The King’s Academy.
Against Santa Cruz, Kellett doubled home Johnson and Kiles in the fifth to break a 2-2 tie, and also struck out three in four scoreless innings.
The game ended when Di Sibio fielded a double and fired to Larson, whose relay throw to Klinger was in time to get the final out.
The Bulldogs didn’t hold up against Mitty but received 1-for-2 efforts from Larson, Kellett and sophomore Samantha Ribeiro.
The King’s Academy built a 4-0 lead in the final game before Sobrato began crawling back. Johnson doubled home Ribeiro and Larson for two runs in the fifth. Larson added a base-clearing triple, and Kellett an RBI single to tie it, 7-7, in the sixth.
Kiles finished 3 for 4 with a stolen base, and Larson and Johnson went 2 for 4 with Larson scoring twice. Ribeiro scored three times, stole a base and batted 2 for 2.
Sobrato is back on the road this week, visiting Prospect on Wednesday and first Mount Pleasant on Friday.
In their previous meeting, Mount Pleasant beat the short-staffed Bulldogs 7-2.
“We were missing a few key players for that one, so we’ll get a better idea of where we stand this time around,” Ciraulo said.
