Team effort leads Aragon softball team to Central Coast Section Open Division win

But it was the play of the Dons’ supporting cast, as well as gutty pitching performance from freshman hurler Rae D’Amato, that carried fourth-seeded Aragon to an 8-5 win over the fifth-seeded Bruins Monday afternoon in San Mateo.

“[DiNardo and Grant] definitely carried us today,” said Aragon head coach Gustavo Garrard. “But it was an all-around team game.”

DiNardo had a monster game, going 4 for 4 with a home run, three RBIs and two runs scored. Grant singled in her first appearance and was subsequently walked in her next three at-bats.

But catcher Janelle Jee came up with three hits and an RBI from the No. 7 position in the batting order; No. 5 hitter Lauryn Horita drove in a run with an infield hit and D’Amato helped her own cause with a pair of hits and a run scored credited to courtesy runner Brooke Tran from the No. 8 hole.

“We needed that bottom half of the lineup (to play well),” Garrard said. “The bottom led off with [a] big [rally].”

It was a Jee single to lead off the bottom of the fourth that started the game-winning rally during which Aragon (15-2) scored six runs on six and sent 11 batters to the plate . Down 4-2, Jee and D’Amato led off the inning with back-to-back singles and pinch hitter Caroline Harger, a freshman, blooped a single to shallow right field to load the bases.

After Sam Kennedy was robbed of a hit by leaping Branham shortstop Madison Connolly, DiNardo came to the plate and on a 1-0 count, rifled a two-run single left to drive in Jee and courtesy runner Tran to tie the game at 4-all.

Aragon wasn’t done. Grant was unintentionally intentionally walked to reload the bases for senior Iris Nai. On a 2-1 count, she singled to left to drive in Harger to give the Dons their first lead of the game, 5-4. Horita followed by reaching on a fielder’s choice, with DiNardo being forced out at the plate.

That brought up Katelin Marin who hit what should have been an inning-ending grounder to shortstop, who went the short way to second base to end the inning.

The second baseman couldn’t handle the throw, Grant and Nai scored and the Dons were up 7-4.

That brought Jee to the plate for the second time in the inning and she singled again, this time driving in Horita to put Aragon ahead 8-4.

That was the big inning D’Amato needed. She went the distance in earning just her second win of the season in 10 appearances. She wobbled through some tough innings and the Bruins certainly didn’t go quietly, scoring five runs on 12 hits.

But she made pitches when she had to and the Aragon defense backed her with just one error.

It was a surprise start for D’Amato, but she was forced into action when Tran, the Dons’ No. 1 pitcher, was unavailable after pitching in a club tournament this past weekend.

“(Rae was) amazing. … It was a last-minute pitching substitution,” Garrard said. “I told her, ‘We’re going to need you to grit it out.’ She knew the task and she didn’t back down.”

Branham (19-3) got to D’Amato early, scratching out a run in the top of the first. Kaila Czarny led off the game with a walk and came in to score on a Sophia Medina two-out single.

Aragon tied the score in the bottom of the inning as Horita legged out an infield hit, beating the throw to first by half a step with DiNardo scoring on the play.

The Bruins retook the lead in the top of the third. Back-to-back RBI doubles from Connolly and Medina, coupled with an RBI double from Chloe Wright, drove in three runs to give Branham a 4-1 lead.

The Dons got one run back in the bottom of the third on DiNardo’s team-leading eighth home run of the season to cut the Bruins’ lead to 4-2 before the Dons’ six-run outburst turned the tide.

“Good team effort today,” Garrard said.

Up next for the Dons is a road trip to Mountain View Wednesday to face top-seeded St. Francis. The Lancers clobbered No. 8 Hillsdale (15-7), 11-0.

The Lancers and Dons met in a preseason scrimmage, with St. Francis (22-0) posting a 12-0 victory in a game in which Aragon was missing four starters, including DiNardo and Grant.

In other CCS action, Capuchino (16-10), the No. 6 seed in Division II, was eliminated with a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to No. 3 Leigh (9-6). Burlingame (11-9), the No. 7 seed in Division II, was also eliminated, 9-2 by No. 2 San Benito (12-5). In Division IV, No. 3 North Monterey County (2-7) ends the season for Design Tech (3-7), beating the Dragons 10-0.