Daily Journal Athlete of the Week: Carlmont’s Katie Fung

“We wanted to have the title for ourselves, basically,” Carlmont junior Katie Fung, “because we tied with Cap last year. So we didn’t want to do that again.”

Fung and the Scots delivered, closing out the program’s 33rd all-time league crown with a 7-0 last Thursday over Burlingame in the regular-season finale. And, after defeating Hillsdale in both the teams’ head-to-head meetings, and Hillsdale falling May 2 to Capuchino in a 1-0 stunner, Carlmont accomplished its mission.

Fung has earned Daily Journal Athlete of the Week honors for being at the forefront of the two title clinching wins. In last Tuesday’s win at Woodside, a 4-2 extra-inning victory, the junior pitched nine innings to earn the win, navigating four Carlmont errors to allow just two unearned runs. She also went 4 for 4 at the plate in the win that clinched no less than a co-championship for the Scots.

“Definitely stressful,” Carlmont head coach Steve Rianda said of the win. “We’d been hitting the ball well all day, just right them, or we couldn’t get the timely hits. So, we knew we would at least score (with the ghost runner in the ninth inning), and it was a matter of if our defense would hold them.”

Thursday’s regular-season finale at home against Burlingame was Carlmont’s Senior Night. And the Scots took care of business, totaling 16 hits in a 7-0 win to clinch the outright PAL Bay crown.

“Burlingame was also our Senior Night, so we really wanted to win that one,” Fung said. “... As soon as all the seniors got a hit, everyone was happy.”

Fung pitched in relief of starter Sophia Cerelli, who earned the win with five innings of work. Fung closed it out with two perfect innings, striking out three. The junior also went 2 for 4 with two RBIs at the dish, improving to a .465 batting average. Only senior Izzy Won — who shared the PAL Bay Division Player of the Year award with Hillsdale’s Claire Shelton — hit better for the team at a .479 clip.

Now, Carlmont advances to the CCS Open Division tournament. It will be a tall test for the Scots, who will be making their third Open Division appearance since the top-shelf CCS bracket began in 2017. Carlmont will be seeded No. 8 in the eight-team bracket, and will open at No. 1 St. Francis, Saturday, in San Jose.

“It’s nice to end the way we did,” Rianda said. “Now we’ve got to go against the big dog.”

Even the CCS sees Carlmont’s PAL Bay championship as an underdog feat. Hillsdale also earned a spot in the Open Division tournament, as is seeded No. 4, four spots higher than the Scots. Because of this, the Lady Knights — who finished second in the Bay Division — will host their CCS opener Saturday against No. 5 Willow Glen.

“Hopefully it will be close,” Fung said of Carlmont’s daunting opening-round matchup. “We played them earlier in the season and I think we lost 11-1, but I don’t think it was completely out of hand, so I think it might be a little closer.”

Carlmont and St. Francis have met in non-league play in each of the last eight years. The Scots are 2-6 in those games, last winning in 2017. The Lancers have dominated the last four meetings, outscoring Carlmont 53-2 since Rianda — former college teammates at Cal Poly with St. Francis head coach Mike Oakland — took over the program in 2021.

“It’s fun to play against a real good team,” Fung said. “It might be difficult. We might get out in the first round, but whatever. At least we made it.”

Carlmont needed every one of its league wins to reach the Open Division, making last week’s marathon victory over Woodside all the more excruciating.

Fung pitched three previous complete games this season, but nine innings was by far a season-best.

“Katie was pitching well in that game,” Rianda said. “We just weren’t hitting and we were making some errors behind her. And I don’t think she was throwing a lot of pitches, so I felt confident leaving her out there.”

It was another in a line of clutch wins for the junior right-hander, who earned the pitching victories in both of Carlmont’s wins over Hillsdale earlier in the year.

“She’s done really well against Hillsdale the last two years, and that’s what really defined her pitching,” Rianda said. “She seems to really step it up against Hillsdale.”