Hillsdale, Notre Dame-Belmont both vie for Central Coast softball crowns Saturday at San Jose City College

Three years, Butcher, a 2016 graduate of Hillsdale and now the Knights’ head coach, has her team in the CCS championship game for the second year in a row. Meanwhile Dykes, who moved to Notre Dame-Belmont ahead of the 2025 season, has the Tigers in a CCS championship game, as well.

Fourth-seeded Hillsdale (19-9), the defending CCS Division II and Northern California Division III champs, will take on No. 7 Alisal (19-5) in the Division I title game at 12:30 p.m. Saturday at San Jose City College.

NDB will be playing in its third CCS final in five years as the top-seeded Tigers will open Championship Saturday with a 9:30 a.m. matchup with No. 3 Branham in the Division IV title game, also at San Jose City College.

Hillsdale finished as co-champions of the PAL Bay Division with San Mateo, but the Bearcats were awarded the top seed from the PAL based on a two-game season sweep of the Knights, garnering the No. 1 seed in Division I.

The Knights got their revenge Wednesday, ending the season for the Bearcats following an 8-4 win in a semifinal game.

For Butcher, it’s her second straight championship game appearance, something she could never accomplish as a pitcher for her alma mater. During her Hillsdale career, 2013-2016, Butcher (then McCoy) and her Hillsdale teammates three times made it to the semifinals, coming up short of the final all three appearances.

That was then. This is now.

“This is a real special team to me. I’ve known them since they were freshmen,” Butcher said after the win over San Mateo Wednesday. “They won it last year and didn’t want to settle for anything less (this year).

“They love the playoffs.”

The Knights returned 11 players from last season’s CCS and Nor Cal championships team, including seven starters. Liana Mack, hitting leadoff, and No. 2 hitter Sophia Shelton — a junior and senior, respectively — are the table setters, with senior shortstop and No. 3 hitter Mia DeMartini serving as the Knights’ big bat. A first-team, All-PAL Bay Division selection this year, DeMartini was certainly in discussion for Bay Player of the Year after slashing .489/.490/.840. Her 40 RBIs were eighth-best in CCS this season, of those schools that posted their stats on MaxPreps.com.

And DeMartini has continued to rake in the playoffs. Through two CCS games, DeMartini is a combined 7 for 9, with a home run, three doubles, seven RBIs and four runs scored.

As a team, the Knights are batting .323, but the key for Hillsdale is junior pitcher Lola Jones, both in the circle and at the plate. Jones was the starter the 2025 CCS and Nor Cal championship game, so she is used to the big stage. She doesn’t necessarily overpower opposing batters, although she can. She is more than willing to let her defense work and it’s her mental fortitude that might be her biggest asset. She dealt with a lot of traffic on the basepaths in the semifinal game Wednesday but, after San Mateo took a 4-3 lead in the third, Jones allowed only two more hits over the final four innings.

“She digs deep,” Butcher said.

But if Jones can get her bat going, it spells trouble for opponents. In the cleanup spot, she is batting .348 on the season — but has been in a funk the last couple of weeks.

If she can find her groove Saturday, it could be a long day for Alisal. The Trojans won the Pacific Coast Athletic League’s Mission Division title and advanced to the championship game following an 8-1 win over No. 2 Piedmont Hills in the first round and a 2-0 decision over No. 3 Aptos in the semifinals.

Like Hillsdale, Alisal can swing it, batting .331 as a team this season, led by Micah Smith and Neaveh Lopez. Smith slashed .430/.531/.714 this season, leading the team in hits (34) and runs scored (37).

Lopez batted .386 and led the Spartans with 31 RBIs.

Abigail Walker is expected to get the start in the circle for Alisal. In 15 appearances, she went 9-2 with a 0.44 ERA, striking out 87 and walking 10.

Division IV

No. 1 Notre Dame-Belmont (15-11-1) vs No. 3 Branham (13-12)

9:30 a.m. Saturday at San Jose City College

Believe it or not, the Tigers have a fairly rich CCS softball tradition. They’ve won three CCS titles — 1977, 2007 and 2009 — and have appeared in four other finals — 2001, 2006, 2022, 2023.

But unlike Hillsdale, which returned 11 players from last year’s CCS championship team, NDB head coach Nick Dykes has relied on a number of freshmen to get them to the Division IV final.

But he also has some key vets, who played major roles in the Tigers’ last CCS finals appearance in 2023, who were all freshmen that year — Hailey Truong, Skylar Loo and Juliette Ramirez. All three have big roles three years later.

Not surprisingly, they have been the Tigers’ best three hitters. Loo led the team in all major offensive categories, including batting average (.461)), hits (41), runs (34) and RBIs (28). It was her bases-loaded double in the second inning that blew the game open in a 14-2 semifinal win over King’s Academy.

The key for NDB will be in the pitcher’s circle. Dykes has used three pitchers this season, but none of them will blow away the opposition. Caroline Zerella, a junior, has developed into a workhorse, with her 87 innings nearly double that of Truong and Brooke Lapin.

Zerella, on the diminutive side, will not scare people with her speed. But Dykes trusts her ability to really spin the ball and locate it. She got off to a shaky start against King’s Academy in the semifinals, but settled in to pitch all five innings, giving up two runs on just five hits.

For Branham, Saturday is a historic day: it is the Bruins’ first-ever CCS championship game appearance in school history. Branham finished sixth in the Blossom Valley Athletic League’s Mt. Hamilton Division, the equivalent of the PAL’s Bay Division.

The Bruins may be only hitting .280 as a team, but leading hitter Kaitlyn Douglas is batting over .400 on the season and led Branham in most major offensive categories.

The Bruins really lean on starting pitcher Taylor Bugliarello, who has made 21 appearances this season, posting a 2.48 ERA.

But when she is on, she is tough to hit. In 113 innings, she has struck out 158 batters, while walking 33.