Warriors, Nuggets go head to head in classic rivalry clash on last day of PGF Nationals

The loss came in the third game Saturday, as the Warriors finished the tournament with a 6-2 record. But the team woke up to a surprising rivalry showdown, going head-to-head with the Cal Nuggets, a travel softball team now based in Mountain View but runs an indoor hitting facility in Belmont.

“I just know we have a rivalry and we really wanted to beat them,” Warriors outfielder Julianne Galarza said. “They’re a good team too, and it’s good to beat them.”

Galarza enjoyed a big game as the Warriors rallied for a 4-3 victory over the Nuggets to keep their season alive.

The No. 9 hitter went 3 for 3 with two RBIs, including a big RBI single in the sixth. During her freshman season at St. Ignatius in the spring, Galarza typically batted leadoff. And she’d showed off her speed in the Warriors’ final turn at bat, legging out a two-out infield single to bring home Madilyn Sekera to up the lead to 4-2.

“Yeah, our team needed it, and I just had to do everything I needed to do,” Galarza said.

The insurance run loomed large as the Nuggets made some noise in the top of the seventh, plating a run on a two-out infield single by Penny Duus to drive in Adelle Duncan. Then with runners at the corners, and the potential tying run 60 feet away, Warriors reliever Madison Masa induced a chopper to Henriquez at second base to close it out.

“I just knew I had to get this out for my pitcher,” Arielle Henriquez said. “She’s been working her butt off all week pretty much. So, I really wanted to provide for her, and for my team most of all. We’ve been on a three-week grind. So, I was just doing my best.”

With an 8 a.m. first pitch, the early-rising Warriors came out swinging, stranding two baserunners in a scoreless first before rallying for three runs in the second. Sekera drew a leadoff walk, and Natalie Sun roped a strong-handed double to deep center to put runners at second and third. Juliana Carranza followed with a hot shot to the left side of the infield that was misplayed to drive home Sekera. Galarza added on with an RBI single to right, and Gia Ryan capped the rally with a sacrifice fly to give the Warriors a 3-0 lead.

That’s when center fielder Star Gutierrez made her presence felt with a display of rangy and dynamic defense. And the recent Capuchino freshman made her best highlight-reel grab in the clutch.

The Nuggets fired right back in the third, turning over the batting order with a leadoff triple by No. 8 hitter U’ilani Wells, followed by an RBI single from Lauren Kettwig. The top of the order sent two straight high fly balls to center, with Gutierrez’s first catch totally routine. The second one was anything but, when Halle Hernandez drilled a deep drive into the left-center field gap, but with a quick first step, Gutierrez got on her horse and chased it down just a few feet shy of the wall.

“She’s made lots of plays like that, like over the fence, robbing home runs,” Galarza said. “She’s really good.”

The Nuggets closed it to 3-2 in the fifth on an RBI single by Hernandez.

The Warriors banged out 11 hits in the contest. Starting pitcher Bianka Fisher earned the win, allowing two runs on four hits through 4 1/3 innings. Masa closed it out with 2 2/3 innings of work.

Duncan, Hernandez and Kettwig paced the Nuggets with two hits apiece.

“We always call it nameless, faceless enemies,” said Henriquez, who has tranferred to Berkeley High School after spending her freshman year at Carondolet-Concord. “So, we just went into that game knowing that we wanted to win, and knowing that we were going to do everything we could to pull it off.”

The Warriors followed the rivalry victory with a 6-3 win over the Briggs Softball Club Bengals out of Anaheim. Briggs jumped out to a 3-0 lead after two innings, but the Warriors rallied late, using a five-run sixth to swing ahead. Sekera gave the Warriors the lead with a two-run single to right, bringing home AJ Tatum and Henriquez. Sekera and Henriquez each totaled two hits and two RBIs in the contest, Ryan added two hits, and Addison Schafer tabbed a single with two RBIs.

In the Warriors’ loss to the Lady Magic, there were three lead changes, including the Warriors’ two-run outburst in the bottom of the fourth on Schafer’s two-run single to go ahead 3-2. But the Lady Magic scored twice in the top of the sixth to swing ahead. The Warriors stranded two runners in the bottom of the sixth. In the seventh, Emi Yumiba reached on a one-out walk, but pitcher Brooklyn Ainsworth left the runner stranded at first by not allowing a ball out of the infield to close it out with 1 1/3 innings of scoreless work.