Live Oak has plenty to keep its head up about despite losing 3-1 to Stevenson on Wednesday.
The Acorns (13-9, 8-6) took a team of largely underclassmen and went from being among the bottom teams in the Mt. Hamilton Division to taking third place and earning a home game in the Central Coast Section playoffs.
Live Oak will have nearly its entire team back next year, with just one senior graduating.
And those youngsters got a taste of what the playoffs are like and will have a strong frame of reference for next year.
“The biggest thing that changed was our attitude: Toward each other and toward the game itself,” said coach Sarah Locarnini. “They really took the time to become a family. High school is a rare opportunity to play as a team rather than itself. … They really put the school before themselves.”
Live Oak called up several JV players for the game, two of which saw significant playing time.
“We threw two of them out there and they did awesome,” Locarnini said. “I’m really proud of them. That can be a terrifying situation as a little freshman who gets called up and hasn’t played with these girls except for the past couple of days. So I’m proud of them for stepping up and doing a job.”
She added it was obvious the girls were having fun on the field throughout the season and it was a significant shift from her first year.
What they learned the most is that a couple of mistakes and one bad inning is all that stands between winning a playoff game and losing one.
The Acorns played solid ball for six innings behind pitcher Maddie Gallagher, but one inning spelled doom.
“I thought Maddie threw fabulously. Really a great job,” Locarnini said. “The majority of their lineup couldn’t touch her. We just didn’t necessarily have her back a couple of times in that one inning. A couple of mistakes happened and we didn’t come back from it.”
Stevenson capitalized on two miss read fly balls in the outfield and a pair of infield singles to score all three of its runs in the fourth inning.
The Pirates opened the inning with a sharp line drive that caromed off of Gallagher for an infield single.
Ellie Yamashita followed with a fly ball to left that was miss read and dropped for a double.
Stephanie Dalhamer followed with a triple down the right field line that scored two runs.
After Gallagher struckout the next two hitters, another infield single scored the third and final run.
Stevenson recorded four of its eight hits for the game in the fourth, but certainly threated more.
Gallagher pitched around three additional doubles and stranded four runners at third.
The first batter of the game, Dominique Seva’aetasi, dropped a ball along the rightfield line for a double.
But Gallagher ended the threat with two strikeouts and a lazy fly ball to left.
Gallagher had a high school career high nine strikeouts for the game against one walk as she got tagged for the hard-luck loss. Her previous high was seven, which she had against Sobrato in March.
“She was throwing gas and most of them couldn’t hit her,” Locarnini said.
Meanwhile, the Live Oak offense had plenty of chances on its own.
The Acorns had base runners in every running, stranding six hitters along the way.
Live Oak tagged Stevenson pitcher Jesen Main for one run on six hits and three walks.
The biggest chance came in the seventh inning when Bella Anglokowski and Kaylie Lowery reached on a walk and a single, respectively, with one out.
Bu the game ended with a pair of ground balls to the short stop, sending Live Oak home sooner than they want.
Anglokowski drew two walks for the game, officially going 0-1 in three plate appearances.
Kelli St. Clair got something rolling in the sixth when she laid down a bunt and legged out a single, later stealing second before being stranded.
Jordyn Campbell also had a single in a 1-3 day with a walk.
Gallagher had the big strike of the game, launching a line-drive home run over the center field fence for Live Oak’s lone run.
And after the homer, freshman Ashley Church kept the rally going with a single and went to third on a second two-out hit, but was stranded there when Jackie Orta was ruled out of the batters box on a bunt attempt.
Live Oak did catch a couple of breaks along the way, getting the better of two close calls.
The first came in the second inning when Vanessa Ramos hit a grounder to short but the fielder’s throw took the first baseman off the bag.
The first baseman couldn’t find the base and attempted to tag out Ramos.
The base umpire ruled Ramos out on the tag, but Live Oak asked if the umpire could ask the plate ump for help. The plate umpire overruled the call and Ramos was safe.
Then in the seventh inning, Yamashita laid down a good bunt to move Main over from second. It appeared Yamashita beat out the throw to first, but the base umpire ruled her out after hedging a couple of times on the call.
This time the home umpire didn’t see the play and the call stood much to the consternation of Stevenson’s coach and the visiting crowd.
Live Oak couldn’t capitalize on the first break and the second one denied Stevenson a chance at a fourth run thanks to a pair of comebackers to end the inning.
