Frontier, Centennial set for epic fourth meeting on softball field

In three meetings this season, the Frontier and Centennial softball games were decided by five runs total.

The Titans won 2 of 3, including a 3-1 victory eight days ago that decided the South Yosemite River League championship in a winner-take-all contest.

On Friday, the two will meet again, this time with a spot in the Central Section Division-I semifinals at stake.

“It’s going to be a good game,” Frontier coach Andy Escobar said. “It’s going to be an exciting game, and obviously we know each other well. Everything is on the table and we just have to pick up where we left off.”

In the three previous match-ups, strong pitching performances have been the deciding factor.

On May 9, Titans junior Taylor Sloss tossed a 4-hitter, striking out six to improve to 13-3 and lower her ERA to 1.23. She scattered six hits and allowed just one earned run in the teams’ opening meeting, striking out nine in a 2-1 Frontier win.

The victory was part of a 15-game Titans’ win streak that put the team on the brink of clinching the league title with just three games left in the season.

Frontier needed to win just one game to clinch the title, but lost at Liberty 3-1 and then five days later lost again at Centennial, with Golden Hawks’ starter Madison Cabrera tossing a 2-hitter with eight strikeouts in a 2-0 victory.

That win set up the showdown last week, with the Titans bouncing back, and adding more fuel to Friday’s matchup.

“They’ve shown all year that they just don’t quit,” said Escobar of his team’s clinching victory last week. “We lost that game to Centennial last week, and it was a minor setback, just a little bump in the road. The girls knew what they needed to do, came out to practice and got their set (for the next game), and did it again.”

No. 4 Frontier (20-5) caught fire in the Division-II playoffs last year following a 5-7 record in SYRL play. The Titans entered the postseason with a losing record, but advanced to the section final as a No. 10 seed with a trio of upset victories on the road before losing to Madera 4-2 at Fresno State in the title game.

Now the Titans have a chance at redemption, and after receiving a first-round bye on Tuesday, that journey starts Friday.

“We talked about it, and we have to go one step at a time,” Escobar said. “This is just one of those steps here and then we’ll go on to the next one when the time comes. But we just have to focus, because as of right now, it’s win or go home.”

In addition to Sloss holding opponents in check, Frontier has showcased plenty of offense. Senior Kelsey Rodriguez leads the way with a team-high .481 batting average. She also has five home runs, five triples, 16 doubles and 20 RBIs for a team that has scored more than 10 runs five times this year, including a 23-0 non-league win over Ridgeview last month.

Four underclassmen have made huge contributions at the plate for the Titans, with Charley Hawkins (.403, 22 RBIs), Emma Parnell (.393, 14 RBIs) and Tanisha Escarega (.333, 15 RBIs), and sophomore Baden Conley (.328, 10 RBIs) giving the team depth throughout the lineup.

“They’ve been good for us,” Escobar said. “They showed up and kind of helped us pick up where we left off last year.”

No. 5 Centennial (24-6), which had shared the last two league titles coming into the season, opened the playoffs with a 6-0 victory over Sanger on Wednesday. Cabrera tossed a 1-hitter with 13 strikeouts, Chambree Delcid had three RBIs, and Lundyn Harrison and Mackenzie Johnson had two hits apiece.

“We got the matchup we were wanting,” Golden Hawks coach Joe McIrvin said of Friday's game. “I feel like Taylor Sloss is an absolutely formidable opponent. If we can find a way to stick with a plan of not try to do too much, we may be able to string enough positive plays to win,”

The Golden Hawks have won nine of their last 10 games, with the loss to Frontier last week the only blemish.

“If we try to do too much in any given spot, Sloss is willing and able to end anyone’s season,” McIrvin said. “We are an extremely tough team to beat at home, so obviously we would have liked it to be at our place. But it would be amazing to play well at Frontier since that’s what we have to do.”

It all starts with Cabrera, who is 19-4 with a 1.05 ERA and 258 strikeouts in 160.1 innings. Offensively, Johnson leads the way hitting .375 with four home runs, four triples, 10 doubles and 21 RBIs. Harrison (.361, 16 RBIs), Adriana Casallas (.347, 12 RBIs), Emma Rocha (.329, 6 HRs, 23 RBIs), Delcid (.333, 15 RBIs) and freshman Alex Andersen (.304, 3 HRs, 22 RBIs) are others with impressive stats.

“Going forward we cannot think any further than the first inning against Frontier,” McIrvin said. “We just gotta go one inning at a time and try to keep this thing moving.”