STOCKTON -- Ten minutes after the final out had been recorded, Kensie Haas was still fighting back tears.
Section title games always promise to be an emotional roller coaster and the Le Grand freshman somehow found herself right in the middle of just about every Bulldog high and low on Saturday afternoon.
Unfortunately for Haas, the biggest low came in the top of the seventh inning as her throwing error allowed the tying run to get into scoring position with no one out and the heart of the Mariposa order coming up.
"I was doing everything I could to fight back tears out in left field after the error," Haas said. "I thought for sure she was going to score and tie up the game."
Sophomore pitcher Rebecca Nichols was able to pick Haas up.
She struck out Carissa Leonard on an attempted sacrifice bunt and got pinch hitter Sabrina Green to ground out to short for the second out. Nichols finished off a solid complete-game effort by getting Haley Guenthart to fly out to none other than Haas to end the game and secure Le Grand's fourth Sac-Joaquin Section Division VI title in five years with a 3-2 victory over its biggest rivals.
"It was nice to catch the last ball," Haas said. "It felt like I redeemed myself a little bit for my mistake."
The seventh inning was a reminder of how quickly the scales can tip from hero to goat after Haas had given the Bulldogs (16-8) the lead with a tremendous individual effort in the fourth inning.
Haas got the inning started by fighting back from an 0-2 count to work a one-out walk. Tyler Farnsworth then laid down a sacrifice bunt to try and move Haas up.
To everyone's surprise -- particularly Haas' -- Grizzlies third baseman Riyn Williams threw to second on the play. Haas easily beat the throw to second but, thinking the play had gone to first, rounded the bag on the play. She glanced up in time to see Mariposa shortstop Shea Williams start chasing after her.
Haas kept herself alive in the rundown and eventually slid safely into third after the Grizzlies threw the ball away.
"I don't know what she was looking at on that play, but pickles were one of the things we'd been working on, because you see those kinds of things in the playoffs," Le Grand coach Gia Priddell said. "She did a great job of keeping it alive and taking advantage of their mistake.
"As soon as she got to third, I told her she had to be ready to go on a wild pitch. I just had a feeling one was coming."
Sure enough, Nichole Johnson tossed a 3-2 pitch that was too high for Guenthart and Haas slid in with the go-ahead run. It capped three unanswered runs by the Bulldogs after Mariposa (13-8) raced out to a 2-0 lead.
Guenthart got the scoring started by ripping a two-run double in the first inning. The Grizzlies threatened to extend their lead -- picking up six of their 10 hits in the first two innings -- but Nichols managed to dance her way out of trouble each time.
Mariposa stranded four runners in the first two innings and eight in the game.
"It started out really well in the first inning, but we went dead after that," Mariposa coach Michael Brocchini said. "We left a lot of people on base. We either couldn't execute when we needed to, or when we did hit the ball, it was right at someone. They just wanted it more."
Nichols settled down after her early trouble, limiting the Grizzlies to just four hits the rest of the way. The sophomore struck out five and held Mariposa 0 for its last 6 with runners in scoring position.
"I pitch best when there's a little pressure on," Nichols said. "I left some balls up early, but I didn't want to go home without a banner."
Haas (2 for 2) got the Bulldogs on the board with a run-scoring single in the first. She almost had a second RBI, but Cassandra Casanova was thrown out at the plate on the play. Casanova got her revenge in the third inning, belting the first pitch she saw over the left-field fence for a game-tying homer.
"Mariposa started fast with those two runs, but I kept telling the kids we had the hammer," Priddell said. "I told them we were going to come back, we just needed to keep chipping away.
"We're a young team, but I don't think they showed their age. We got it done when it mattered most."
Sac-Joaquin Section Division VI Championship
At Arnaiz Softball Complex (Stockton)
Mariposa 200 000 0 -- 2 10 2
Le Grand 101 100 x -- 3 6 3
Nichole Johnson and Haley Guenthart. Rebecca Nichols and Carolina Zavala. WP -- Nichols. LP -- Johnson.
MARIPOSA -- Johnson 2-5, Guenthart 2B (2 RBI), Shea Willams 2-3 (SB).
LE GRAND -- Cassandra Casanova HR (RBI, R), Kinsey Haas 2-2 (RBI, R).
Records: Mariposa 13-8; Le Grand 16-8.
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