Carlmont rallies to beat Cap in final at bat

And when she was hit by the first pitch she saw from Roxanne Hannan, Chinn

couldn't help but smile as Ashley Nicholes came home with the winning run to cap the host Scots' 3-2 Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division win over Capuchino.

Although Chinn and Hannan are known more for their exploits in the circle, the marquee pitching matchup between the two turned into a hitting contest. It was Hannan who staked her team to a 2-0 lead after driving the ball off the leftfield fence, and it was Chinn who tied things up in the sixth with a towering home run over the rightfield fence.

The game looked like it was going extra innings before Carlmont (4-0 Bay Division,18-2 overall) rallied with two outs in the seventh to stun the Mustangs (3-1, 5-1). Nicholes reached on an error before Kelly Cunningham and Leong walked. Chinn was then plunked on her left thigh to seal the outcome. The Scots have always been a great frontrunner, but they showed they could make a comeback as well.

"Especially with Roxanne pitching, rallying like that is not easy to do," Liggett said. "I was very happy in the way our girls came back and it had to be a very devastating defeat for Capuchino. They have a good team and we knew this was going to be close."

With a golden chance to beat Carlmont for the first time in three years, the Mustangs couldn't hold on. Hannan didn't have her typical dominating stuff, laboring through a 97-pitch day, 56 of which were for strikes. From the fourth inning on, the UC Davis-bound hurler struggled with her control and often got behind in the count. But the Mustangs were making all the plays on defense, putting down sacrifice bunts, moving runners over and producing the key hits. In short, they were doing all the things necessary in order to have a chance to upend the Carlmont juggernaut.

Adel Faatuai led off the third with a single and Brittany Santos followed with a bunt single before Hannan smacked a two-run double. Carlmont threatened in the fourth, loading the bases with one out, but Capuchino turned a nifty and rare 5-2-3 double play, highlighted by catcher Laura Leahy's quick throw to first base.

To add to its frustration, coach Marty Jenkins was none too pleased with how the game ended.

"She (Chinn) was on the plate," Jenkins said. "He (home plate umpire) has to at least give Roxanne a piece of the plate. I feel Roxanne wasn't allowed that. I can stand over the plate and get hit. I'm not taking anything away from Carlmont - they're a great team. I thought we outplayed them today, and that's what made it so tough because we were playing extremely well. Our team can compete with the best of them and we came into this season looking forward to the challenge of playing Carlmont."

The Scots have arguably the best hitter in the Central Coast Section in Leong. Not only did the Columbia-bound senior go 3 for 3 with two singles, a double and a walk, she also played another flawless game at shortstop, including two nifty throws off her back foot after fielding balls deep in the hole. Leong's third hit, a bloop single to left, was her most impressive. Hannan threw a soft change-up that seemingly had Leong fooled at first. Instead of swinging at air, Leong had the strength to hold her balance for a second before connecting. Leong is hitting around .400, Liggett said.

"I wouldn't pitch to Keli either," Chinn said. "I would walk her every time. She's able to hit anything. Throw her something inside, and she can turn on it. Throw her something outside, and she can hit it the other way."

Katy Suko went 2 for 2 for Carlmont, which outhit Cap 6-3. Hannan tossed a complete-game with four walks, while Chinn also went the distance and struck out nine. Out of her 80 pitches, 59 went for strikes. Chinn said the team was fired up for the game considering it involved the two best teams in the PAL.

"This was something we wanted really bad," she said. "Cap was making all the plays early on, and when I gave up that double to Roxanne I got really frustrated. Hitting that home run really helped. It felt great coming off my hands and I was just ecstatic. I don't know what was going through my mind."

It was Chinn's third homer of the year, and she improved to 13-1. In the end, after everyone had left, she raked the infield, because that's what she does after every home game. And Carlmont won again, just like it's been doing in the last 30 years.