Notre Dame-Belmont junior Alexa Couto slides home with the go-ahead run as head coach Kelly McDonald makes the ‘safe’ call from the coach’s box in the Tigers’ 4-3 win over Mercy-Burlingame on May 3 to clinch the WBAL Foothill Division championship.
As both a travel club coach and a high school varsity coach, Kelly McDonald has made an impact on each of the top brackets of the Central Coast Section softball playoffs.
In her second season at Notre Dame-Belmont, McDonald earned the first league championship of her varsity head coaching career this season when the Tigers locked up the West Bay Athletic League Foothill Division title. As a result, NDB earned the No. 4 seed in the CCS Division I tournament, the first time the Tigers have ever qualified for Division I. Their previous best was appearing in the Division II tournament three times from 2017-19.
“It was definitely immediate because we returned every single player from last year,” McDonald said of this year’s success. “So, it gave every single player a chance to get to know me as a new coach … and got them to see what the requirements were no matter what level of softball they play.”
McDonald credits junior catcher Alexa Couto and sophomore shortstop Malaina Alifano with helping with the slingshot transition into 2022, as the Tigers ran the table with an 8-0 WBAL Foothill record and own a 17-1 overall mark. Couto and Alifano are the only two players on the NDB roster with club softball experience.
“Coming into this year I think both of them knew it was up to them to lead this team,” McDonald said.
Speaking of club softball, McDonald also has her imprint on many of the top Peninsula Athletic League teams in the CCS playoffs. With PAL Bay Division champion Aragon earning the No. 4 seed in the Open Division tournament, McDonald sees her two top players from her West Bay Warrior Academy travel team at the heart of the Dons’ batting order in Liv DiNardo and Megan Grant.
Talia Tokheim, the senior leadoff hitter for No. 6-seed Sequoia in the Division I tournament; Alex Bunton, the senior shortstop for No. 3-seed Hillsdale in the Division II tournament; and Adyson Kim, senior pitcher for No. 3-seed Mills in the Division V tournament are all Warrior Academy players as well.
CCS Open Division
No. 4 Aragon (17-4) opens postseason play in the CCS Open Division tournament Saturday morning, hosting No. 5 Los Gatos (22-3) at 10 a.m.
It is the second straight year the Dons have qualified for the Open Division tournament, featuring the elite eight teams in the CCS. In 2021, Aragon won its playoff opener 8-5 against Branham before falling in the semifinals 9-1 to eventual champion St. Francis-Mountain View. Aragon is again on a trajectory to collide with No. 1 St. Francis in the semifinals.
“I think it’s going to be tough,” Aragon head coach Liz Roscoe said. “We’re in the same bracket obviously as St. Francis. I didn’t play them at the beginning of the year because I figured we probably would see them, and you want to see teams as little as possible. So, you’ve got to go play a good game.”
No. 4 Notre Dame-Belmont (17-1) opens postseason play Saturday, hosting No. 5 Branham (20-7) at 1 p.m. No. 6 Sequoia (17-6) is on the road, opening at No. 3 Alvarez-Salinas at 1 p.m.
NDB has been hitting with authority this season, batting .437 as a team. The Tigers are paced by Alifano’s .581 batting average, though Couto in the leadoff spot won two legs of the team triple crown with eight home runs and 31 RBIs, while also pacing the team with 16 steals. Freshman pitcher Allison Lui is 12-1 with a 1.44 ERA, striking out 122 batters in 82 2/3 innings. Branham is led by senior Emma Fales both sides of the ball, leading the team with a .388 average as well as posting a 14-6 record with a 1.24 ERA in the circle.
Sequoia features the CCS strikeout queen for the regular season in junior left-hander Ainsley Waddell, who leads the section with 213 strikeouts heading into the postseason. Alvarez has a strikeout artist in the making of its own in freshman Danny Amendola, who totaled 111 strikeouts through 76 innings pitched while walking just seven.
CCS Division II
No. 2 Capuchino (17-9) opens play in the CCS Division II bracket Saturday, taking on No. 7 Gunn (17-6) at San Mateo High School at 1 p.m. The winner will take on either No. 3 Hillsdale or No. 6 San Lorenzo Valley in the semifinals. Hillsdale (13-8) hosts San Lorenzo Valley in Saturday’s quarterfinal opener 1 p.m. Saturday.
CCS Division III
Carlmont (13-11) drew the No. 1 seed in the CCS Division III tournament. The Lady Scots will host No. 8 Gonzales (13-7) at 1 p.m. Carlmont owns eight previous CCS championships, last capturing the Division I title in 2014.
CCS Division IV
No. 5 Mercy-Burlingame (15-5) will open on the road in the CCS Division IV tournament, traveling to No. 4 Greenfield (19-6) Saturday at 1 p.m. No. 6 Design Tech (15-5) travels to No. 3 Los Altos (12-12-1) for a 10 a.m. start.
CCS Division V
The road warriors, No. 3 Mills (13-6), don’t have a home field this season due to an on-campus remodel that has spanned the 2022 season. The Lady Vikings will travel to No. 6 Terra Nova (11-10), though Mills will play as the home team, with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m.
“I like it,” Mills head coach Navneet Mehta said of his team’s success on the road this season. “Keep it up.”
No. 7 Half Moon Bay (9-9) opens on the road, traveling to No. 2 Stevenson-Pebble Beach (11-11) for a 4 p.m. start.
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