It was die-hard softball fans night at the Castro Valley Community Center on Friday. There were no blanket giveaways at the gate, no seat warmers, and nary a concessionaire peddling warm hot chocolate. With temperatures dipping into the mid-40s, a decidedly hale and robust crowd turned out to watch the Cal High Grizzlies (now 5-1) suffer their first loss of the season at the hands of the Bishop O' Dowd Dragons (5-1) by a score of 4-2.
The Grizzlies traded runs with the Dragons, from Oakland, until the bottom of the sixth when Bishop freshman Olivia Grewal scored from third on a passed ball to make it 3-2. Grewal was the courtesy runner for sophomore catcher Jaclyn Caldwell, who reached base on an error to lead off the Dragons' half of the frame. Two batters later sophomore Sophie Cacia, who got aboard by beating out a sacrifice bunt, scored on a wild pitch to give the Dragons all the insurance they would need.
"Our defense hiccupped at the end," said Cal coach Kristina Thorson. "We just kind of allowed their runners to get there. I really haven't seen that from us all year. "
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Thorson played college ball for the Cal Bears and now bleeds black and orange, both for Cal High of San Ramon and her professional team, the Chicago Bandits. She noted that Friday's game was the third in a week for the Grizzlies.
"We might be a little fatigued," she said. "But really, we just didn't execute. When they had baserunners, they scored them, and we left 11 people on base. We've been able to execute with runners in scoring position all year, but we just weren't able to do that tonight."
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The Grizzlies had a chance to tie it in the seventh with runners on second and third and two out. Sophomore Sarita Leon hit a hard line drive to left field – unfortunately, right at Dragons senior Andrea Carney.
Despite the loss, there were plenty of solid performances from the Grizzlies under the lights. Freshman Andi Quilalang pitched the first four innings for the Grizzlies and kept them in the game by getting key outs, including two strikeouts with a runner in scoring position in the second inning. She also made some nice defensive plays, knocking down a comebacker in the fourth inning to strand runners on second and third.
Quilalang did get behind in the count more often than she normally does, and that led to baserunners for the Dragons and a pair of early runs.
"She was thinking a lot tonight," said Thorson. "Normally she comes out and she's happy-go-lucky, not thinking at all, but she was guiding the ball a bit tonight. It happens. She's young, she's just going to get better."
Another freshman, starting third baseman Kwyn Cooper, collected three hits and both of the Grizzlies' RBIs. She also stole third twice. Though she was on the mound in the sixth when the Dragons went ahead for good, Cooper pitched well enough to keep them off the board. The ball just took a few unfortunate hops.
"She got the ground balls, she did her job," said Thorson. "She was going right at the hitters. And she's been nails at the plate recently."
Cooper bats ninth for the Grizzlies but has been on a tear as of late, with two doubles and three runs in Thursday's matchup against the Logan Colts.
"It's kinda funny," said Thorson. "Their coach was like, 'That's their number nine hitter, she can't be getting hits.' I'm like, 'Yes she can!'"
Other Grizzlies notables from Friday were senior Cassie Mosser, who went 2-for-3 with three steals and a walk, junior Megan Gomm, who smacked a double and a triple, scoring a run in the process, and senior Mariah Nisbet, who added two hits.
"Our lineup is tough, one through nine," said Thorson.
Thorson, nicknamed Thor after the Norse god of thunder, is three-fourths Norwegian and sports a tattoo of the hammer-wielding god on her left leg. As a pitcher for the Bandits, she also wields a hammer – another name for a curveball. Perhaps that nickname is just a little too perfect.
Sadly, most of the Grizzlies remain nickname-less six games into the season.
"No colorful nicknames yet," laughed Thorson.
It's her first season as head coach, so she's got time to work on that. The Grizzlies will play again on Tuesday at Grenada High in Livermore.
