Upset sends Marauders to Tulare

BAKERSFIELD — A large banner looms to the left of the entrance to Garces’ softball field.

It reads, “Garces Memorial High School — Home of the 2002, 2003, and 2004 CIF softball champions.”

Monache’s players must not have noticed it when they walked through the gates Tuesday afternoon in Bakersfield.

The No. 11 Marauders walked out as 6-3 upset winners over the No. 6 Rams in the opening round of Division II softball playoffs.

As a result, they’ll visit No. 3 Tulare Union — a team which has beaten Monache twice this season — on Thursday.

Not that the past matters anymore — Monache coach Dave Koontz says his girls have nothing left to prove.

“We were the heavy underdogs here,” Koontz said. “We’ve already surpassed any goal we set. With the team that we started with — we were a rebuilding team, we were young — this team has played tough ball and I’m so proud of them.”

Monache (14-11) got a complete game from ace pitcher Katherine Figueroa, who allowed just four hits while getting 13 Rams to ground out to a scrappy Marauders’ infield.

Figueroa also limited Garces’ .548-hitter Kayla Gardner to one hit in the top of the first.

“Kat pitched an excellent game,” Koontz said. “She hit her spots and kept the other team off balance.”

Monache shortstop Chandra Jones and center fielder Jessica Simmonds combined for five of the team’s eight hits.

Jones, a multi-sport athlete who switched from left field to shortstop this season, powered the Marauders’ offense with a 3-for-3 showing from the plate including a seventh-inning single that was barely out of reach of third baseman Jasmine Dosanjh’s glove.

Jones’ final shot bought enough time for teammate Chelsea Duldulao to score Monache’s last run and third of the inning, cementing a win that was still in doubt just moments earlier.

“When we needed a clutch hit, Chandra was just awesome,” Koontz said. “She knocked in three runs and she didn’t stop.”

Jones did it from the defensive end, too, snagging a pair of highlight-reel catches and sliding into home for Monache’s third run in the fourth after she stole third base. The junior also drove in two runs at the top of the first inning.

“I just try to get the team going,” said Jones, who afterward sported a bloody right elbow.

Taking a 3-2 lead into the final frame, the Marauders quickly loaded the bases off of a Kelsey McCabe walk, a Kailee Doyel single and Emily Raya getting hit by the pitcher.

Simmonds then lined up a bloop to center field for her second hit in three at-bats, scoring McCabe.

The crafty Simmonds made the Rams pay by sneaking home when Garces catcher Brianna Breese tried to throw out Victoria Jackson at first.

Figueroa ended the game with three straight groundouts, sending the Marauders to the second round for the second straight year. Coincidentally, they lost to Union in the same scenario last season.

“We’re thrilled,” Koontz said. “Our defense was spot on and we made every play that we needed to make.”

Koontz estimated only two or three of his girls had experienced a taste of the playoffs, yet he was impressed how calm and under control his squad remained.

“I think they were so young, they didn’t know any better,” Koontz said. “They didn’t choke and they just played a really relaxed game.”

Jones attributed the unexpected maturity to the team’s passion for the game.

“We voted (at the beginning of the season) and we wanted to achieve getting to the playoffs,” Jones said. “I think no matter how young we are, we still have a heart for winning.

“One of our things is to play like it’s our last game,” added Jones, who is anxious to get another shot at Union. “That’s exactly what we did today.”