Alhambra captures NCS D-III softball title with Hailey Powers’ walk-off home run
PLEASANT HILL – Alhambra sophomore Hailey Powers was looking for a pitch down the middle as she led off the bottom of a tied seventh inning of the North Coast Section Division III softball championship game at Diablo Valley College on Saturday afternoon.
After fouling off San Leandro’s first offering, she got what she wanted with her second lefthanded swing.
The ball cut through the blisteringly hot air and landed over the fence to give the Powers’ Bulldogs the section crown with a walk-off 7-6 victory.
She trotted around the bases feeling a mixture of elation and bewilderment after hitting the first home run of her high school career.
“I was in shock,” Powers said. “I didn’t think I could hit it over.”
Watching from the dugout, senior ace Willa Adler’s had zero doubt that her second baseman would come through in the biggest moment.
“She’s an incredible player,” Adler said. “She 100% could hit that home run. She’s got it.”
Once Powers touched home plate, it was time to celebrate.
“The adrenaline was so high, that I was sprinting out of the dugout as soon as I saw the ball (leave the bat),” Alhambra senior Mia Brady said.
The blast put away a feisty, never-say-die San Leandro squad that gave Alhambra everything it could handle.
Trailing 6-3 in the top of the seventh inning, San Leandro’s Isabella Lopez Puertas got one run across on a groundout to first. Then, Jade Orta’s ground ball cut the deficit to just one when more Alhambra gaffes in the field allowed a pair of runners to come across.
Finally, Marina Sacrey tied the game at 6-6 on a sharp line drive to left.
The 11th-seeded Pirates had taken down No. 6 Moreau Catholic 14-4, No. 3 Arroyo 4-3 and No. 2 Maria Carrillo 11-10 to reach the final, and was three outs away from forcing extra innings against the Bulldogs.
While Powers’ home run shut the door on San Leandro’s dreams of a first NCS title, coach Kelsi Thomas focused on the willpower that got them to the brink of earning championship hardware.
“Our team is just full of grit and determination,” Thomas said. “I think that showed in the top of the seventh.”
Her Pirates took an early 2-0 lead when Sacrey smoked a pitch over the center field wall, but Alhambra answered when Juliana Carranza drove in Brady on a double and cut the deficit to 2-1.
Alhambra took control in the lead in the fourth when Nichaela West doubled one runner home and Corina Griffone turned a bunt into a two-run little-league homer thanks to several San Leandro errors.
“I told the girls that this game was a microcosm of our whole season,” Alhambra coach Adam McLane said. “We battled back, jumped on top, let them right back into it, but then found a way at the end to put it away.”
Payton Radke drove in one run for Alhambra in the bottom of the fifth, and San Leandro senior Camryn Gilbert responded in the top of the sixth with an RBI single.
It set the stage for a dramatic seventh inning that culminated in Alhambra’s sixth NCS title, and first since completing a Division II three-peat from 2014-16.
Powers and Angelina Lopez each had two hits for Alhambra (17-10), and Adler struck out seven in a complete game. Sacrey had three hits and RBI for San Leandro, which ended the season 21-8.
The Bulldogs will not be competing in the NorCal tournament that begins next week. With Alhambra’s graduation scheduled at the same time a second-round matchup on Thursday would be, the team decided to end the season at sectional play.
For seniors such as Adler and Brady, hoisting an NCS trophy and pennant is the perfect way to conclude their high school careers.
“Coming into NCS, we were all like, ‘This is our last thing’,” Brady said. “We put it all out there on the field.”