No. 8 Turlock nearly pulled off what would have been arguably the biggest upset in the Section this year when they traveled on the road to take on No. 1 Sheldon on Wednesday afternoon.
Down 3-0 after the fourth inning, Turlock battled their way back and managed to squeeze out a pair of runs, but in the end, they fell in the second round of the Division-I Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs, 3-2.
“Coach Tribble and I are extremely proud of this team. We had 10 team expectations going in to the season and we accomplished all 10,” said Turlock head coach Jill Ogden. “We felt going in that we could compete with Sheldon.”
They did and then some against arguably the best softball team in the Section.
Sheldon led off the second with a solo home-run.
They then added a run in the third and then in the fourth to take a 3-0 lead.
Turlock was held scoreless till the top of the sixth inning.
From there, Shelby Frutoz led off with a walk then Kayla Pollinger ran for Frutoz. Faith Hernandez followed up with a two-out single before Lauren Edh smacked a two-run single to right center to score Pollinger and Hernandez.
The success of the team and program is a credit to the character and integrity of this incredible group of young women.Turlock head coach Jill Ogden
“We had a good practice on Wednesday and were confident going in to the game,” said Ogden. “We have one of the best pitchers in the district with Shelby. The confidence we have in her allows us to believe that we can compete with any team. Shelby pitched well enough to get the win, unfortunately, we could not get the timely hit with runners on base.”
Frutoz nearly matched Sheldon starter Kenedi Brown.
Frutoz went six innings, allowed just four hits, three earned runs, walked three and struck out eight.
Both sides finished with five hits apiece.
Kylie Coehlo and Edh were 1-for-3 for the game. Hernandez was 2-for-3 and Frutoz was 1-for-2 from the plate.
Turlock concludes their season having won the Central California Conference with a 10-2 record.
They also end the season with an overall record of 16-8.
“This team had excellent leadership and embraced the ‘we before me’ concept,” said Ogden. “We also are excited that our seniors get to leave as CCC Champs. They were a catalyst for rebuilding our program.
“The success of the team and program is a credit to the character and integrity of this incredible group of young women,” she added. “We had 12 out of 15 players earn Academic All-Conference with grade point averages at or above 3.5. The senior class valedictorian, Megan Van Ruler, led the way with a 4.87 GPA.”
