Capuchino softball team snaps Burlingame's five-game winning streak with 7-2 win in San Bruno Thursday

So after opening the season with losses to the likes of St. Francis, King’s Academy and Mitty, scheduling Burlingame seemed kind of a break in the schedule.

And then the Panthers busted out of the gate, winning six of their first seven games and had scored double-digit runs in their previous three games, all wins, suddenly the Burlingame-Capuchino matchup was big for both teams.

But with temperatures soaring into the high 80s in San Bruno and even hotter on the artificial turf at Mustangs Stadium, Capuchino cooled off the red-hot Panthers, beating them 7-2 Wednesday afternoon in a non-league game.

“We saw [Burlingame] beat San Mateo and Half Moon Bay — run-ruled them,” said Lily Thomas, Capuchino starting pitcher.

“We just knew we had to play our game and execute.”

Thomas certainly gave her team a chance to win as she put together one of her best performances of the early season. She pitched a complete game, allowing two runs on three hits.

“I thought I did OK,” Thomas said. “My curveball and changeup were working.”

After giving up a RBI single to Sam Arce in the top of the fourth, Thomas did not allow another base runner the rest of the way, as she retired the final 12 Burlingame batters in order.

“She’s been lights out,” Borghello said of Thomas, who is replacing the graduated Lola Sierra, who earned Co-Pitcher of the Year honors last year and is currently starring at College of San Mateo.

“She’s stepped up,” Borghello said of Thomas, who was a freshman on that 2024 CCS title team. “She’s played a lot of softball with us and she pitched a lot last year.”

Burlingame (6-2 overall) had its chances, but Thomas did well in working around trouble. After Capuchino (2-3) scored an unearned run in the top of the first, Burlingame tied it in the second when Kiley Lyons led off the inning by jumping on the first pitch from Thomas and drilling it to the fence in right field for a lead-off triple.

But Thomas locked in. She got a comebacker off the bat of Brooke Arce ahead of Kendall Gorshen driving home Lyons with a sacrifice fly. A Thomas strikeout ended any further damage.

It turned out to be big as Capuchino took control of the game by scoring four runs in the second. Valeria Gomez led off the inning with a walk, moved to second on a Leeanna Patolo sacrifice bunt and took third on a Kaitlyn Staff groundout.

Burlingame starter, Brooke Arce, appeared to get out of the inning without any damage when she induced a Thomas into a routine grounder that was booted, allowing Gomez to score. An Alana Koenig infield hit and a Dana Motroni fielder’s choice kept the inning alive, with Thomas coming in to score. That brought up cleanup hitter Bri Lopiccolo, who slammed a double to the wall in left field to plate both Koenig and Motroni to put the Mustangs up 5-1.

Brooke Arce struggled with her command early and the Mustangs made her pay.

“My pitcher as having a problem getting a grip on the ball,” said Burlingame head coach Al Del Rosso. “But we had some physical errors. It’s been a long week.”

After that four-run second, Brooke Arce appeared to settle down as she allowed two runs on three hits over the final five innings.

She kept the Mustangs off the board in the third, but Capuchino touched her for two more runs in the fourth, with Lopiccolo, again, supplying the big hit. Brooke Arce struck out the first two batters of the inning before Motroni legged out an infield hit on a slow roller to shortstop.

That brought up Lopiccolo, who singled to left. Motroni was on the move at the crack of the bat and lackadaisical play by the Panthers enabled Motroni to motor all the way around the bases and score from first, with Lopiccolo taking second on the throw home.

Courtesy runner Brooklyn Rose then came in to score on a Kiki Ngaluafe single to right.

Burlingame got to Thomas one more time, but again, she limited the damage. Colette Uharriet led off the top of the fourth with a double and Sam Arce single to put runners on the corners. The Panthers would pull off a double steal, with Sam Arce taking second and Uharriet scoring on the delayed steal of home.

But Thomas retired the next three batters, the first three of the final 12 outs in a row.

Despite seeing his team’s five-game winning streak come to an end, Del Rosso believes Thursday game will be beneficial for the Panthers down the line.

“It’s easy playing ahead. It was a good lesson to learn (Thursday),” Del Rosso said. “I think we’ll be fine going forward.”

Borghello believes the same thing. So despite scheduling likely losses against teams from the West Catholic Athletic League, Borghello is a firm believer in iron sharpening iron.

“To gain softball IQ, we need games where it’s being tested,” Borghello said.