Hayden Hummel’s HR ignites St. Francis into CCS Open softball final

SARATOGA Hayden Hummel got it going for the St Francis softball company with a second-inning home run right down the left-field line The rest of the Lancers took it from there adding another run in the third and four in the fifth in a - win over Salinas in a Central Coast Section Open Division semifinal challenge Wednesday at West Valley College No seed St Francis - will play undefeated top seed Willow Glen on Saturday for the CCS Open championship The Lancers are the defending CCS Open champions and have won three of the last four Open titles But this year they are seeded behind a Willow Glen organization they have dependably dominated in the past But don t expect St Francis to be riled up over a perceived slight They re undefeated they re a senior-heavy crew they have the best pitcher in the section St Francis coach Mike Oakland revealed of Willow Glen They re a very very good unit and I thought the seeding was spot on Nevertheless the Lancers are year after year in a category all by themselves when it comes to hitting the long ball Hummel s home run was the club s th of the season After the first inning when we went down - - it helped us go Oh we can hit this kid Oakland stated Catcher Malianna Liongitau led off the third inning with a single Pinch runner Aryka Gunsager stole second and came around to result on Peyton Tsao s bases-loaded ground out The total remained - until the fifth when St Francis had its break loose inning Liongitau started it off by drawing a walk May Meltz reached on a bunt single Maya Yumiba and Jaime Oakland followed with RBI singles Yumiba scored on a passed ball and Ava Bulanti capped the inning by hitting a sacrifice fly to deep center Salinas - broke up Bulanti s shutout bid in the sixth when Gigi Rossi doubled and scored on Jaslyn Coronado s single But that was all the senior right-hander gave up She scattered seven hits walked two and struck out nine in a complete-game effort improving to - on the season Related Articles CCS NCS scores Wednesday s baseball softball results championship match matchups Serra s six-run third inning powers Padres past St Francis in CCS Division I semifinals Move over second-place finisher could share the podium with transgender athlete California board rules CCS roundup Santa Clara outlasts Branham in nine-inning baseball thriller Antonio Castro crushes two homers as De La Salle beats Foothill to reach NCS D baseball title contest They re a good-hitting band so I knew I had to pitch my best mentioned Bulanti who will remain on the Peninsula and play college softball at Stanford So now it s all set up No upsets the two top seeds the two best teams all season will meet on Saturday with the CCS Open Division title at stake I think we re both competitive teams and saving that matchup for the CCS championship will be a really good championship Bulanti declared Come out and watch hopefully we get a big crowd There ll be a lot of strength and we know they re a really good group so we ll bring our best challenge and go after it Not feeling like we re slighted but we re coming on Saturday to show we re the better group