Torsh, Walker lead Woodside to first CCS softball title in program history

The Division IV title marks the first CCS championship in program history for Woodside. The team previously advanced to the Division III final in 2021.

“This is the first time we’ve ever won in school history, so this will live with them forever,” Woodside head coach Alexa Daines said, “and I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

It was the perfect gift for Daines, who celebrated her birthday Saturday. But while Walker was her usual stalwart self — allowing three runs on seven hits to improve her record to 16-9 — the big surprise present came from sophomore Victoria Torsh, who stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs in the first inning and delivered a three-run double.

A part-time player for much of the season, Torsh entered play Saturday hitting .189 with three RBIs.

“Not too good,” Torsh said. “But today was different.”

The sophomore only moved up in the batting order to the No. 6 spot due to junior slugger Mo Overbey suffering a microfracture of the wrist sliding into second base during last Tuesday’s CCS opener.

Daines shook up her lineup, moving Torsh from the 9- to the 6-spot in the order, and it paid off big time. Woodside loaded the bases with nobody out on a leadoff walk from Caroline Ong, and back-to-back bunt singles by Lacey Barstad and Marisa Calderon. However, Palma starting pitcher Nancy Phelps bounced back to strike out the next two hitters, and leveraged the count to 1-2 against Torsh before the Woodside upstart slammed a bases-clearing double up the left-center gap to give the Wildcats a 3-0 lead.

“I was just looking for a way to bring the runners in,” Torsh said. “Two-strike approach, just short and sweet. ... Just turned on it, got a good piece.”

Woodside added a critical insurance run in the third inning in more conventional fashion. Barstad led off the inning with single to center. After Calderon bunted her to second, junior cleanup hitter Vanessa Carlos whacked an RBI single to center to up the lead to 4-0.

Walker responded the way Walker does, working the zone, stringing together strikes, and consistently pitching to contact the way only a gritty workhorse can. The junior has now thrown 152 2/3 innings this season, with more on the way as the Wildcats, by virtue of Saturday’s win, qualify for the CIF Northern California regional playoffs.

“It was my mission to pitch as many innings as we needed to win,” Walker said. “Just get ahead and stay ahead, and attack them right from the beginning.”

It didn’t come easy, though. Walker was thrown into the fire immediately after Woodside’s three-run first. Palma (10-15-1) responded by getting its first two batters of the second on base, with freshman Analysia Rocha doubling to deep left-center, and junior Maya Martinez drawing a walk.

Walker left them stranded right there, though, inducing a pair of harmless fly outs, sandwiched by one of her five strikeouts on the day.

“She’s going to give you three to five strikeouts a game on average, but she’s pitched to contact and she’s got good stuff,” Daines said, “and we’ve got a good defense behind her that has kept us close in many games this season, and got it done when it matters most.”

It was the late innings where Walker faced her toughest test, though. In the sixth, Palma rallied with an RBI triple from Rocha and an RBI single by Martinez to close the deficit to 4-2 with no outs. Walker again coaxed two harmless flies in the air, followed by a strikeout to retire the side. In the fifth, freshman No. 9 hitter Reese Amaral singled, stole second, and scored on a sacrifice fly to left off the bat of freshman Keilani Pato-Guardado.

Then with two outs, freshman 3-hitter Ashlyn Urmanita roped a double into the left-field corner. Woodside pitching coach Christina Daines visited the mound, but the Wildcats were committed to riding their ace to the finish.

“She earned that,” Alexa Daines said. “She’s earned that full game, and it was hers regardless of the outcome.”

Palma came within five feet of swinging ahead, though. After the mound visit, Martinez jumped on the first pitch she saw and drove it to deep center field. Overbey — who played only on defense as Woodside’s flex player — ranged back before pulling up on the warning track to camp under it and glove the final out.

“Your stomach drops a little bit, obviously, just because it’s a deep fly ball,” Daines said. “But you have all the trust in our defense.”

Urmanita, Rocha and Amaral paced Palma with two hits apiece. Barstad and Calderon each had two hits for Woodside. Torsh went 1 for 3 and doubled her RBI total to six with her first-inning heroics.

“We always just say get ahead and stay ahead,” Walker said. “So, that really just gives me the confidence to trust and know that my defense is going to be there, and that our offense is hitting and alive already at the beginning of the game.”