Carlmont Scots claim 9th all-time CCS softball crown

It marks the ninth CCS title in Carlmont’s program history, and the first for head coach Steve Rianda. The previous eight titles belong to the legendary Liggett.

“The history that Liggett built here is just fantastic,” Rianda said. “All year I told the girls about how important these little things are. So, they’re immortalized now. No. 9 is nice to have and No. 1 for me.”

Block, a senior right-hander, went the distance, relying on her defense in allowing six hits while striking out two. She had an impact on the other side of the ball as well, going 2 for 3 at the plate while scoring the go-ahead run to break a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the sixth.

After leading off the sixth with a sharp single to left — she advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Grace Schumacher, and to third on a bloop single by Izzy Won — Block took a chance by racing home on a contact play when Katie Fung smacked a ground ball to the left side of the infield.

Rianda, as the third-base coach, tried to hold Block at third, she said. But there was no stopping destiny, as Block read nicely the ball to the left of the third baseman and scored without a throw home.

“My coach said to be aggressive so I just kind of had that in mind,” Block said. “Like, off the bat, if it’s not directly to the third baseman or the first baseman, then I’m going to go. And once the ball was hit, I realized it was kind of to the side of the third baseman. And Steve said to wait but I had already started running at that point, so I was like: ‘Why not just keep going?’”

Block did all the work in the circle, including navigating a bases-loaded jam in the fifth amid a 1-1 tie. But it was the arm of center fielder Gabby Lee that bailed the Scots out of their most perilous inning in the top of the first.

Salinas (18-8) didn’t wait around as three of the Lady Cowboys’ first four batters singled to start the game, capped by an RBI knock from Iris Bejandarano to take an early 1-0 lead. But when Marie Martorella lifted a medium-deep fly ball to center field with a Salinas runner at third base, Lee got all the momentum of her 5-foot frame behind a throw to fire a strike to home plate to cut down the runner for the third out of the inning.

“I like to have a pre-pitch mentality where I know where I’m going before the ball is hit to me,” Lee said. “So, I knew it was in the air, and I knew I was going to get it, and I knew that my next step was to throw it. So, I kind of predicted that it was going to happen.”

And the exciting play certainly put a charge into the Carlmont dugout.

“She’s a star,” said Block, who has played with or against Lee since their 6-year-old season in the Belmont Rec League. “She’s great. She’s an amazing player.”

It took Block an inning or two to find her footing in the circle — literally. The senior said the pitching area was quite gravelly, much more so than when she pitched there in last Tuesday’s 1-0 win over Soquel in the CCS semifinals.

“When you come out and you get scored on in that first inning, you’re always worried,” Rianda said. “We knew that they had four or five top hitters, so we were glad to get out of that with only one. And then Sassie settled down and was really able to take charge the rest of the game.”

Block didn’t have to pitch with a deficit for long. Carlmont rallied for a quick strike tally in the bottom of the second. Won led off the frame tattooing a triple into the left-field corner. Fung followed with a groundout to the right side of the infield to drive home Won to tie it 1-1.

After Block traded zeroes with Salinas starting pitcher Marley Panziera for two innings, the Scots broke through in the fifth. Kylie Rouspil drew a leadoff walk and moved to second on a bunt by Niamh Marren. After Rouspil got a bit fortunate by advancing to third on a comebacker to Panziera, who threw to first base for the second out of the inning, Rouspil scored when Jasleen Singh reached on an infield error to put Carlmont up 2-1.

But the Cowboys answered back with an unearned run of their own in the top of the sixth. After a one-out double by Martorella, Block induced the second out with a fly ball to center. Then she coaxed a grounder to the left side of the infield, but a high throw across the diamond pulled the first baseman Conti off the bag, and courtesy-runner Ava Thompson raced and around third to score on a bang-bang play at the plate, tying it 2-2.

It might seem such a riveting game might lead to wild celebration, but this was not the case. After Block set down the side in order in the seventh, the even-keel Scots celebrated simply with some graceful hugs and routine high-fives in the middle of the diamond.

“I expected them jumping and hooting and hollering,” Rianda said. “They’re a low-key group but I know they’re excited because you can see it in their eyes.”

Block said the excitement was definitely felt after she induced a ground ball to Isabelle McCandless at third, who threw across the diamond for the game’s final out.

“It was very exciting,” Block said. “I went straight to Mac and gave her a big hug. But I was really excited. I was just really happy. We’ve been playing together for so long, this was a long season for us, but it was a great one. And getting the win was fantastic.”