Riordan transfer Brooke Arce leads Burlingame softball to upset of archrival San Mateo

“I had a really good feeling once I made contact with the ball,” Arce said. “And I just knew it was gone from then.”

The booming shot would have been out of plenty of parks around the PAL but, without a fence to clear, the loud contact was followed by Arce tearing out of the batter’s box for an all-out wind sprint around the bases.

“It would be nice if we had a fence,” Burlingame head coach Albert Del Rosso said.

Arce was the not-so-secret weapon in helping Burlingame (5-1) snap a five-game losing streak in head-to-head play against its archrival.

San Mateo swept the season series last year by a cumulative score of 22-2. That’s when Arce was at Riordan, however. The Burlingame native always knew full well about the rivalry though, not only because she has teammates on club team at Warrior Academy who play at San Mateo, but also because her older sister, senior Sam Arce, is in her fourth year at Burlingame.

“My sister was on the team last year, so I definitely knew the rivalry from last year,” Arce said. “And I was excited to go against them and try our best.”

The inside-the-park homer wasn’t the only base running for Arce. She added two singles, a double, and totaled three runs. It didn’t cost her in the circle, however, as she gutted through six innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on nine hits in the shortened mercy-rule game on a sweltering day in Burlingame.

“Brooke did good today,” Del Rosso said. “She gutted that one out. She threw a lot of pitches. They were tough at-bats, and they were grinding on her pretty good. It’s a little bit warmer than it’s been for the last couple months, so, yeah, it was taking a toll. She wanted to keep running out there ... but when she’s got to run around the bases all the way, it takes a little bit more energy out. ... I was a little concerned about the gas tank.”

The Panthers totaled 17 hits in the game, but San Mateo — batting .382 as a team this season — didn’t go quietly. The Bearcats recorded 11 hits in the game, and made things interesting in the fifth, cutting into a 10-2 deficit with a two-run rally.

“With this group, I feel like we’re always in it,” San Mateo head coach Robert Burley said. “At the same time, we knew who we were coming in to face. Brooke’s a game changer for them. They get a sophomore transfer, and she changes their game.”

Sophomore Aliyah Scheller and freshman Anya Cheng each tallied RBI singles in the fifth, but it could have been much more. With the bases loaded and two outs, No. 9 batter Jana Davies slapped a hard one-hopper to the left side of the infield. Two feet to the right, it would have skipped easily into left field to continue the rally. Instead, the hard chopper found the glove of Sam Arce, who cut down the runner at first to retire the side.

Burlingame went on to walk it off in the sixth with a four-run rally to invoke the mercy rule. Sophomore Olivia Delucci ended it with a long two-run double to deep left, with senior Sophie Lin jogging home with the game-winning run.

“They’re a great team, they’ve got some big wins, they’ve beaten us the last couple years pretty good,” Del Rosso said. “So, yeah, it kind of felt good.”

Arce adds quite a lot of depth in the circle. Burlingame has three pitchers on roster, including juniors Kiley Lyons and Aditi Bafna. The team also has three catchers in Delucchi, senior Kendall Gorshen and junior Kai Fuss.

Junior center fielder Maddy Koo added three hits with a triple and three runs scored for the Panthers, Delucchi and senior Sophie Lin had two hits and two RBIs apiece, and Brooke Arce finished with five RBIs. With the win, Arce improves her record to 5-1 with a 1.99 ERA.

“It was definitely hot today,” Arce said. “I felt great. It was great having my teammates back me up. I couldn’t have done it without my teammates. We win together, we lose together, and I wouldn’t be so successful without them getting my back.”

San Mateo (4-2) opens PAL Bay Division play Thursday with a 4 p.m. home game against the King’s Academy. The Bearcats have dropped two of their last three.

“Unfortunately, we’ve had two bad games,” Burley said. “But we’re going to have a good season. This isn’t who we are today. We didn’t play catch today. That’s ultimately what it comes down to.”

Burlingame was also able to keep San Mateo leadoff batter Alice Han off base, despite Han making good contact much of the day. Han is batting .480 while tied for the team lead with 12 hits. Only junior Celia Hernandez is batting better with a .600 average. Han also brings rangy defense and a dynamite arm at shortstop into the fold. She and junior second baseman Demi Alfonso are both returning All-PAL Bay Division first-team selections.

“[Han] is the real deal,” Burley said. “She’ll play somewhere (in college). She works hard. The best part is she’s the hardest worker. She shows no emotion. She’s even keel. She’s the leader of our team. When she gets on, good things happen. And she keeps us up. She’s usually nails there.”