Sophia Kajani earned her fourth save of the year Thursday for Hillsdale softball.
What a roll Sophia Kajani has been on for the Hillsdale Knights.
The right-handed pitcher was the odd woman out last season during Hillsdale softball’s Central Coast Section Division II runner-up bid. Bouncing between the varsity and junior-varsity teams in 2017, she only pitched in one varsity game all year.
As a senior this year, Kajani has proven a sharp complement to returning first-team all-Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division pitcher Kealani Kaufusi. Entering play Thursday having recorded consecutive wins in her last three appearances, Kajani fired four shutout innings of relief to earn the save, combining with Kaufusi for a 5-0 shutout victory over Notre Dame-Belmont.
“We knew we would have both pitchers this year which was kind of nice,” Hillsdale assistant coach Michelle Zalba said. “We had Kealani. But when we get ahead it’s nice to have someone who gives her some relief too.”
Closers aren’t exactly a trend in softball, and Kajani hasn’t been a typical stopper. She is now 3-1 with a 1.53 ERA and four saves on the year. Three of those saves have come from her finishing the game with three or more innings.
“She’s strong,” Zalba said. “She throws hard and she’s got a nice curve.”
The left-handed Kaufusi has been contending with tendonitis of the throwing wrist since last season. And the 36 2/3 innings Kajani has given second-place Hillsdale have been critical to keeping the junior ace Kaufusi fresh for some of the team’s biggest wins.
Kaufusi went the distance March 15 in a key 5-1 league win over third-place Half Moon Bay. She has also earned non-league wins over Mountain View, Los Altos and, most recently, NDB on Thursday. The lefty is now 11-2 with a 1.62 ERA through 64 2/3 innings.
“They definitely work differently,” Zalba said. “So they’re a good combo.”
Hillsdale (14-3 overall) has been the class of the PAL Bay Division in terms of offense this season. The Knights are hitting .396 as a team, and are currently besting each first-place Carlmont (.361) and HMB (.382). Against NDB ace Madi Earnshaw, though, Hillsdale had to scratch and claw for each of its five runs.
The Knights scored two runs in the top of the first, while totaling just one hit. Freshman Mika Chong got Hillsdale on the board with an RBI groundout. Senior Bridget Nasir followed with an RBI single. Later in the game, Ashleigh Wong had an RBI knock en route to a 3-for-3 day. Addison Eftakarri added two RBIs, each on fielder’s choice groundouts.
“Our girls did a really good job.” Zalba said. “We didn’t have the big hits we’ve been having … but we did a really good job of situational hitting.”
Earnshaw tabbed the complete game for NDB, allowing five runs (four earned) on five hits, while walking two and striking out five. Her record falls to 5-3, and she has now lost back-to-back decisions for just the second time in her career.
NDB (6-3) totaled just five hits, with sophomore Kaitlyn Kiesel going 2 for 3 for the first two hits of her varsity career.
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