Providence softball blitzed in first-round playoff loss

It was not a good outing for the Providence High softball team in its CIF Southern Section Division VII playoff opener Thursday on the road against Santa Clara.

The Pioneers could only muster one hit and the Saints feasted on Providence pitching. The end result was a 10-0 loss for the Pioneers in a game that was called after five innings because of the 10-run mercy rule.

“You can’t win when you have one hit,” Providence Coach Joel Curtis said. “We played against a team that was good, we just weren’t ready to play and it really showed. That’s the bottom line. Some of the girls were a little nervous and that didn’t help any.”

Providence, which ends the season with an 11-6-1 record, was the No. 2 team from the Liberty League after finishing as tri-league champion with Pacifica Christian and Archer. It was Providence’s first championship in nine years.

The Pioneers were facing a Santa Clara (18-4-2) that entered the playoffs as the division’s No. 4 seed after finishing second in the Frontier League.

The Saints got their offense going early, pushing across three runs in the first inning and four in the second to take a 7-0 advantage. They tacked on one run in the third and two more in the fifth to put the mercy rule into play.

Santa Clara tallied 13 hits in the five innings. The Pioneers were also hampered by seven errors.

“We put the ball in play enough times and we did get a couple of walks,” Curtis said. “But we were just not able to make any adjustments. It was also a little of lack of focus on our part and a lot of pressure on our freshman pitcher.”

Providence’s lone hit came in the third inning on a single by Francesca Marvilla.