La Reina Comes Out Swinging in Playoffs

The catcalls began as soon as La Reina High leadoff hitter Jennifer Baltruzak dug in to begin the Regents’ Southern Section Division V softball wild-card game Tuesday at Santa Clara.

“Hey batter, batter, batter . . . swing!” shouted the Santa Clara infielders each time pitcher Darlene Duarte released the ball.

Ask and ye shall receive, the Saints soon learned. La Reina belted the ball from start to finish and claimed a 3-0 victory to advance to a first-round game Friday against second-seeded Crossroads, a team the Regents beat earlier in the season.

“I didn’t even notice [the shouting],” said Baltruzak, who scored the Regents’ first run and pitched a three-hitter, striking out seven and walking four. “That’s good. It means we were focused.”

La Reina, the Tri-Valley League’s No. 3 team, finished with eight hits but ripped several other line drives that either landed foul or went directly in the gloves of startled Saints.

“We had them on the edge [of a blowout] the whole way,” La Reina Coach Don Hyatt said. “But early on I was wondering if we could push one [run] across.”

The Regents (17-9) broke through in the third. Baltruzak hit a two-out single, stole second, advanced to third on a fielder’s choice and was singled home by Stephanie Deddens.

The last two runs, both unearned, scored in the sixth. Stephanie Hall tripled and scored when Santa Clara shortstop Niecee Madrigal threw wildly to first on a ball hit by Anna Robison.

Robison moved to third on a passed ball and scored when Saint first baseman Kathy Montoya made an errant and ill-advised throw to third after Nicole Garofolo grounded out.

“Two errors, two runs,” Santa Clara co-Coach Dick Weber said. “What’s surprising is that it was our veterans who made the mistakes.”

The loss ended a second consecutive roller-coaster season for Santa Clara (12-9), which does not have a senior on its roster.

The Saints had to win six of their final seven games last season to finish third in the Frontier League and claim a playoff berth. This season, they had to win five of their last six to reach the playoffs.

“It’s real frustrating,” Madrigal said. “Our last game was errorless and we had lots of hits and then this.”

Baltruzak (12-6) beat Santa Clara for the third time in her career, all by shutout. The senior is 11-3 in playoff competition and raised her postseason batting average to .442 with two singles.