It was a beautiful Thursday afternoon for the “El Toro Bowl” of softball and the stands at Sobrato High School were packed, with standing room only down the foul lines. Both the Bulldogs and the visiting Live Oak Acorns softball teams are having stellar seasons and their April 10 game was a display of great Morgan Hill softball and excitement for the fans.
Star pitchers Sam Zimmerman of Sobrato and Juliana Altamirano of Live Oak dueled early but the offenses found openings. Relievers came in later.
Brooklyn Amato and Jordan Bouton singled in the Bulldogs’ first to put the home team ahead and a Zoe Rodriguez triple led to a second tally. Altamirano and Kayla Tulowitzki had big hits in a two-run Acorn fifth to tie the score. Drama and tension mounted.
A Zimmerman single led to a Sobrato run in the last of the sixth and a 3-2 lead. But the never-say-die Acorns had the final push. Maya Medina and Tilly Hill hit singles and Olivia Mixco ripped a clutch double down the third-base line to tie the score. A sacrifice fly plated Hill for a 4-3 lead that held up.
“My team had faith,” Mixco said. “It feels really good. We pick each other up. I got an outside fastball to hit and that’s my pitch.”
The result was a rivalry win and a statement for Live Oak, dominating in a “B” league and now facing an “A” league opponent. For the Bulldogs, the contest showed progress and potential, along with a near-victory against a team rated among the best in the Central Coast Section.
“Today was very exciting, with the crosstown rivalry,” Live Oak coach Sarah Porras said. “It brings extra emotions. The girls have grown up playing with each other. I’m proud of my girls. It was our first true test of adversity.”
Sobrato, in the middle of the Blossom Valley Athletic League, Mt. Hamilton Division with a 2-3 league record, slipped to 6-5 overall. The Acorns, 6-0 in the BVAL Santa Teresa Division, improved to 13-1 for the year.
“It’s a tough loss,” Sobrato coach Dave Bauer said. “We came in with a good mindset. With Live Oak, we knew it was going to be a battle. They have good pitching and good all-around players. It came down to the end.”
Live Oak has shined all year. Early non-season wins came over North Salinas, Aragon, Gilroy, Evergreen Valley and King City. A 3-1 loss to Westmont is the only blemish on the record and the Acorns have since reeled off eight straight wins. The victories have come over Oak Grove, Del Mar, Pioneer, Silver Creek, Prospect, Piedmont Hills and Milpitas, before the Sobrato thriller.
In the league standings, the 6-0 Acorns are followed most closely by 8-1 Piedmont Hills, 6-2 Prospect, 5-3 Lincoln and 4-3 Christopher.
Altamirano’s pitching has been dominant. The Live Oak sophomore has two perfect games, shutting down Del Mar and Pioneer. Her ERA is an amazing 0.86 in 48.2 innings, with 87 strikeouts. She has been at her best in the biggest games, striking out 16 in the win over Prospect and tossing a complete-game five-hitter with nine punchouts in the win against Piedmont Hills.
Medina also pitches and has been quite solid in the circle, with an 0.72 ERA in 29.1 innings with 39 strikeouts.
Quinn Hulber-Dana is at catcher, showing superb maturity for a freshman in such a crucial position. The infield usually consists of Ava Chapman at first, Tulowitzki at second, Eden Svoboda at short and Liselle Herrera at the hot corner.
Out on the grass, the outfield finds Tilly in left, Mixco in center and freshman Peyton Goulart in right. Brooke Fausto provides depth.
The offense is impressive. Hulber-Dana is 24-for-42 for a .462 average, with 13 RBIs. Mixco is 22-for-44 for a .500 mark, with 15 runs and 13 RBIs. Altamirano has a 15-for-31 and .484 stat line and Tulowitzki is 18-for-39 for .462, with 15 runs scored. The list goes on. Tilly is 15-for-37 and .405 and Svoboda is 17-for-47 with 16 runs scored, 12 RBIs and a .362 average.
“We’re having a great year,” coach Porras said. “We’ve had a ton of run-rule games. To come up and play an ‘A’ team, it means a lot.”
Sobrato started off the year hot, with wins over Christopher, San Mateo, North Monterey County, Palma and Westmont. More recently, they’ve struggled, although they are coming off a 10-9 win over Santa Teresa and the dead-even game with Live Oak.
In league play, 4-0 Willow Glen and 5-1 Gilroy lead the pack, with 4-2 Branham close behind. The Bulldogs are in the middle at 2-3, along with 3-4 Westmont, 3-4 Santa Teresa and 2-4 Leland. Leigh is a step further back.
The contest with Live Oak showed Sobrato at its best and on a mid-season climb back. With the squad gelling after injuries and the flu, along with weather impacts on the schedule, the Bulldogs have some work to do. But it’s in their hands with much of the season remaining. The result did not derail Sobrato’s improvement and confidence.
“It was really intense,” Zimmerman said. “The energy was up. We had really good energy.”
Zimmerman has a 2.80 ERA against a very challenging schedule, with Amber Rodrigeuz and Sophia Hawthorne also taking the mound for the Bulldogs. Sunny Fernandez is at catcher. Alyssa Nava plays first, Amato is at second, Zoe Rodriguez is at short and Marchan holds down third base. In the outfield, the Bulldogs have Amber Rodriguez, Isabel Reichert and Bouton. Kiera Garcia, Bree Arnhart and Julia Carlsen add depth.
The offense features Carlsen at 12-for-22 and .545, Amato with a sterling ledger of 17-for-35 for .486, with 14 runs scored and 12 steals, the multi-talented Zimmerman at 13-for-21 for .619 with eight RBIs and the versatile athletic Bouton at 17-for-37 for .459, with 12 runs and 10 RBIs.
“We’ve been up and down,” Bauer said. “We’ve had very good pitching but our hitting needs to be a little better. It’s been a few weeks trading flu and injuries. We lost Sam (Zimmerman) for three weeks due to an ankle injury but she’s back.
“We don’t have the record we want. We’ve got our work cut out for us but we know what we have to do. We want to get into the playoffs.”
Both teams have a bit of a break now, with significant games remaining. On the April 10 afternoon, they both could take away positives from the battle. As did the hundred fans who watched the best of another “El Toro Bowl” competition. On this afternoon, Live Oak captured the win.
“It was very emotional,” Altamirano said. “It means you have to work harder. We’ve grown up with them. It feels good to beat them.”
