Cats stun Dogs to play for state title

The Saddleback softball team advanced to the championship round of the 3C2A State Tournament at Bakersfield College with wins against Santa Rosa Junior College and College of San Mateo on Saturday.  The Bobcats will play Palomar College, needing two wins to claim a second state title in program history. 

Saddleback has been on a roll since losing the opening game of the tournament against San Mateo on Thursday, winning four straight games in two days to advance to the championship round.  The biggest of the four was a 4-3 cliffhanger against San Mateo on Saturday night, a program that won the state title a year ago and entered the tournament at 41-1.

Saddleback opened the day by beating Santa Rosa, 9-2, to improve to 35-14 on the season.  The Bobcats got a solid pitching performance from Colette Howren while Ka'ui Garcia continued to be a dominating force at the plate in going 3-for-4 with four RBI. 

Much like the previous games in the tournament, Saddleback started slowly as SRJC opened with a two-run homer from Mia Avila to grab an early lead.  The Bobcats wasted no time in answering, scoring twice in the bottom half of the first inning to get back to even when Garcia continued her roll in the tournament by blasting a two-run homer to even the score.  It seemed to energize the bats as Saddleback would score in each of the first four innings in grabbing a 7-2 lead. 

The lead was plenty for Howren, who kept the Bear Cubs bats off balance for six straight innings after the two-run homer in the opening inning.  Howren allowed only two hits over the final six frames while striking out four Santa Rosa batters at the plate.

Saddleback added two insurance runs in the bottom half of the sixth inning with two outs when they took advantage of a defensive miscue from Santa Rosa in adding to the lead.  The Bobcats had singles from Garcia and sister Lehua Garcia to push the lead to 9-2.

Santa Rosa put a runner on base in the top half of the seventh inning in trying to make a late push, but Howren retired the next three batters in putting Saddleback into a rematch with San Mateo for the rights to go to the championship round.

Saddleback's energy for the final game of the day was at an all-time high.  The dugout had a buzz and you could feel the same energy coming from the stands. 

Saddleback landed the first punch in the top half of the second inning when it scored twice to take the lead.  Howren led off the inning by reaching base on a throwing error from the shortstop.  Alexis Vanhorn then came to the plate and laid down a bunt that was picked up by the first baseman and throwed into right field, allowing Howren to come all the way around the bases to score while Vanhorn advanced all the way to third base.  One batter later, Lehua Garcia had a sacrifice fly to right field and the Bobcats had a 2-0 lead. 

Saddleback led 2-1 heading to the top half of the fifth inning when again they capitalized on some defensive blunders from the Bulldogs.  Lola Winningham led off the inning by reaching base on an error from the third baseman.  She would later score on a single from Mikayla Mendoza for a 3-1 advantage.

San Mateo grabbed the momentum in the bottom half of the sixth inning when Selena Gonzales led off with a single and Hannah Ames followed with a towering home run to tie the score.  San Mateo put another runner on base before Saddleback made a change at pitcher and inserted Howren into the game after 5+ brilliant innings from Kylee Cammarato.  Howren got three quick outs to silence the Bulldog rally and keep the score even at 3-3.

Saddleback took to the plate in the top half of the seventh inning, looking for any break to stop the San Mateo surge.  They got such break when San Mateo put on a defensive shift against Millie Maher at the plate, who likes to hit the ball to the left side of the field.  Maher did her part for CSM in hitting the ball to the left side of the infield, but the third baseman made an errant throw past the first baseman into an (now) empty right field and the speedy Maher circled the bases as the Bulldog defense scrambled to try and chase down the ball.  It was the sixth error of the game for the Bulldogs, and eventually the one that ended up being the final nail in the coffin.

Saddleback sent Howren back to the mound in the seventh inning, looking to preserve the win against the middle of the San Mateo lineup.  She opened the inning by retiring CSM slugger Nia Mapa on a ball that found the glove of Lehua Garcia right in front of the center field wall.  The next two batters would hit lazy fly balls that were easily playable, sending the Saddleback faithful into a frenzy when Rio Castillo flied out to Lehua Garcia in center field to end the game. 

Saddleback is now 36-14 following the win against San Mateo.  The Bobcats will play Palomar in the championship round, needing to beat the Comets twice to win the state championship.

Saddleback and Palomar are scheduled to start at 12:00 PM at Bakersfield College.

GAME NOTE: The 36th win for Saddleback in 2026 is the fourth highest total for a season in program history.  The Bobcats won 38 games in 1987, 1988 and 1999.