[New post] Vacaville High softball offense comes alive in semifinal win over St. Francis
gqlshare posted: "Vacaville High School softball head coach Destinee Santistevan spent the better part of last week worried that her team's offense had gone in a funk.Those worries are over.The Bulldogs' unleashed a five-inning offensive onslaught for an 11-0 w" Times-Herald
Vacaville High School softball head coach Destinee Santistevan spent the better part of last week worried that her team's offense had gone in a funk.
Those worries are over.
The Bulldogs' unleashed a five-inning offensive onslaught for an 11-0 win over St. Francis of Sacramento Tuesday night to advance to the Sac-Joaquin Section Divison I championship. Top-seeded Vacaville, which formally wrapped up its 29th straight win on Aubrie Gibson's mercy-rule three-run home run, will face No. 2 seed Whitney Saturday at 1 p.m. in Sacramento.
"Recently we have battling a little bit of a drought and so we were coming into this game hoping we were out of that slump," said Santistevan. "And so coming in and seeing the contact we made the first three batters and the confidence we showed — that's what I was most happy about. Even if we didn't get on base, we were on her (St. Francis' starting pitcher Kiley Shea). They figured her out right away."
Vacaville's Paige Witte scores the 10th run on an Aubrie Gibson home run during the Bulldog's 11-0 win over St. Francis in the fifth inning of the 2023 CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Softball Playoffs on Tuesday. (Chris Riley/Vacaville Reporter)
The Bulldogs didn't score until the third inning when Vacaville added five runs. Jordan Munn walked and eventually scored on a wild pitch to make it 1-0. The Bulldogs made it 2-0 later in the inning on a fielder's choice.
"We came into this game wanting it more because it was our last home game so for our seniors we're never playing here again and we wanted to make the most of it," said Gibson.
Makayla Freshour added to the lead with a two-run single to make it 4-0. The lead was pushed to 5-0 when Hayden Kyne had a two-run double.
That lead was more than enough for Vacaville starting pitcher Xochitl Atayde, who retired the side in the third, fourth and fifth innings by retiring nine of the 10 batters she faced.
"My rise ball and curveball were working today but also my changeup, which usually doesn't work well," Atayde said. "I noticed it was working in warmups so I worked it into the game."
Atayde said that she didn't change the way she pitched after her team gave her a big lead.
"I was just sticking to how I always pitch. I think I pitch better under pressure," Atayde said. "When there is more pressure the adrenaline gets going with me and I'm more focused and I work harder. When I'm under pressure I feel that I have to do my job even more. Also, St. Francis has a good lineup one through nine so I had to stay focused — taking it one batter at a time and looking at how their swings were."
Laila Dean homered to make it 8-0 in the fifth, followed a few moments later by Gibson ending the contest with her blast.
"I was looking to make sure I stayed back on my back foot because the at-bat before I had good contact but it wasn't what I wanted," Gibson said. "So I made sure I looked for a pitch that was low enough that I got my hands through and she gave it to me.
"I knew it was gone as soon as I hit it," Gibson continued. "I didn't even realize it was the walk-off homer, but as I was running around the bases I remembered that it was."
Santistevan was hardly surprised that Gibson would be the one to deliver.
"She's been our go-to game-winner all year, " Santistevan said. "She's been struggling with her self-confidence. After her last at-bat, she asked, 'What do I need to do?' I told her that she did better when she went to the power slap. Soon as she went to the power slap — first swing — the ball went over the fence."
The win was the 29th straight win for the Bulldogs, who haven't lost since their season opener on March 3. Gibson said the streak is something the team doesn't really talk about too much.
"At the beginning of the season we talked about it but not anymore really," said Gibson. "We need to get one more win and then we can."
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