Grant slam! Megan Grant powers Aragon past Burlingame in PAL Bay Division softball opener

Grant led the way to the Lady Dons’ 11-1 mercy-rule victory over Burlingame in Tuesday’s Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division opener in San Mateo. The UCLA-commit was 2 for 3 with five RBIs, highlighted by a fourth-inning grand slam over the porch in left-center field.

“Probably not one I should have swung at,” Grant said. “It was a little high. But I just muscled it, I guess.”

One who prides herself on strike-zone discipline, Grant is off to a scorching start through her first two games. She is currently batting .857 (6 for 7) with two home runs, giving her 24 homers in her varsity career.

And her fellow Dons are certainly happy to have her back in the lineup.

“It’s fun,” Aragon sophomore Rae D’Amato said. “She brings an energy to the team and she kind of gives us all confidence. So, it’s really fun having her back.”

D’Amato had a fun day at the plate too, going 3 for 3, including a scorched two-out double to drive home Liv DiNardo in the bottom of the first inning for the game’s first run. The sophomore cleanup hitter is batting .565, which offers Grant, hitting in the No. 3 spot, good protection.

“I’m super comfortable with her behind me,” Grant said. “It’s good to just see her growing. I’ve played with her in basketball too, so I know her pretty well. She’s doing great.”

D’Amato also earned the win in the circle as Aragon’s starting pitcher, working three innings before giving way to junior reliever Brooke Tran. And along with Burlingame starting pitcher Kasey Lyons, D’Amato was part of a second-generation pitching showdown between Aragon and Burlingame.

Both starting pitchers’ mothers also went head-to-head for the respective schools, with D’Amato’s mother Karen D’Amato (nee Canziani) and Lyons’ mother Karen Finney Lyons pitching against one another in the 1980s.

Karen D’Amato tipped the proverbial cap to Finney Lyons, saying she was the better pitcher when they competed against one another in high school. Finney Lyons, however, never had to contend with the likes of Grant and the University of Arizona commit DiNardo, as her daughter had to Tuesday.

“It’s scary, for sure,” Lyons said. “They’re amazing, and seniors … but I’m super happy just to be playing them. She had an amazing hit off of me. And I think it’s only going to make my pitching better, by facing better hitters. So, I’m excited to play them.”

Lyons kept Burlingame in the game the first time through the batting order though, staying aggressive to the strike zone and insisting on going right at Aragon’s dangerous lineup.

“Might as well see what they have first,” Lyons said. “And if it goes over, it goes over. They’re good hitters. It’s what is expected.”

The Panthers tied it in the top of the third when sophomore Lily Grenier singled home Giana Johnson to make it 1-1. But in the bottom of the frame, Aragon rallied for three runs to take the lead for good.

DiNardo sparked the go-ahead rally with a one-out single to left-center. Janelle Jee followed with a double into the left-field corner to plate DiNardo. Grant then scorched an RBI single — to the same patch of grass as DiNardo’s previous knock — to drive in Jee. Grant advanced to third on an infield single by D’Amato, then scored with a slide into home plate and a cloud of dust on a sacrifice fly by junior Brooklyn Blake.

Then in the bottom of the fourth, Aragon went large, scoring seven times while sending 11 batters to the plate.

Two walks followed by two Burlingame errors pushed a run across, and set the stage for Grant’s grand slam. Stepping to the plate with the bases loaded, Grant was simply trying to get something in the air to score Amelia Gullo from third.

“It didn’t matter where it went,” Grant said. “Just get the run in somehow.”

It just so happened the lofty fly ball went over the fence in left-center. D’Amato followed with a single and Blake drew a one-out walk, setting the stage for the eventual game-winning swing when Morgan Marburger shot a two-run double to left-center to make it 11-1.

Tran pitched through trouble in the top of the fifth, stranding two Burlingame baserunners to end the game via five-inning mercy-rule on her fourth strikeout through two innings of work.