Merced battles back to defeat St. Mary’s in softball

The stage was set for Madilyn Nickles.

The Merced softball star came up to bat in the top of the fifth inning with the bases loaded and the Bears trailing by a run.

Nickles didn’t disappoint.

The junior lined a double off the glove of St. Mary’s right fielder Kelcy Telles to drive in two runs to give the Bears a lead they would not surrender.

No. 5 seed Merced defeated the No. 4 Rams (24-5) 6-3 in the second round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II playoffs on Friday night at the Sacramento Softball Complex.

The Bears (22-6) will face top seed Benicia (25-4) on Saturday at 3 p.m. in a winners bracket game. Benicia defeated No. 9 Del Oro 6-0 on Friday.

Merced battled back from a rough start against the Rams. After scoring a run in the top of the first, the Bears committed two errors in the bottom half that opened the door for a three-run rally for St. Mary’s.

“We know we can come from behind,” Merced coach Bart McAfee said. “We’ve done it several times this year so we’re know we’re capable. It’s nice to know you have that in your back pocket.”

After the first, Nickles dominated, recording 12 of her 13 strikeouts in holding St. Mary’s scoreless the final six innings.

The right-hander changed her approach after the rocky inning.

“I had to try to find my mind-set,” Nickles said. “That team was a lot more aggressive. I went to the dugout and talked with my dad (assistant coach Ted Nickles), and we decided I shouldn’t take my time. I just wanted to get the ball and throw. It helped me stay focused.”

After using their power with two homers in an 8-4 win over Rodriguez in the first round, the Bears used their speed and aggressiveness at the plate and on the bases to overcome the early deficit.

Nickles singled, stole second and scored on a single by Missy Lalisan in the fourth inning to cut the St. Mary’s lead to 3-2.

Merced then erupted for four runs in the fifth inning in a rally started by Maurissa Meza’s single to right. Rheanne Lewis singled and Katelynn Gietler reached on an error to load the bases for Nickles.

Nickles crushed a line drive to score Meza and Lewis.

“I just tried to relax and get a base hit,” said Nickles, who is 6-for-6 in the playoffs. “My team did a great job of setting the table for me there.”

Merced tacked on another run when St. Mary’s catcher Hannah Russell tried to pick off Nickles with a throw to second. Gietler alertly broke for home on the throw and scored.

Gietler also scored from second base in the first inning when St. Mary’s tried to turn a double play on a grounder to second by Megan Kravec.

“I just try to be aware of where the ball is,” Gietler said. “I knew we had to get the lead and I had to score.”

Shelbee Ward pushed in the Bears’ fourth run in the fifth with an RBI single on the first pitch she saw from St. Mary’s starter Carley Morfey.

Ward was the fourth Merced player in the inning to hit the first pitch, resulting in three hits and an error.

“We had to be aggressive on the first pitch because we didn’t want to let her throw her rise ball,” McAfee said. “We knew she had a good rise ball, and we didn’t want to fall behind in the count and let her use it.”

Merced has pounded out 23 hits and scored 14 runs in its two playoff wins. Now the Bears will face a Benicia team that has surrendered only one run in its two wins.

“We’re going to play good teams the rest of the way,” McAfee said. “St. Mary’s is a good team. We’re just going to battle.”

This story was originally published May 15, 2015 at 9:59 PM with the headline "Merced battles back to defeat St. Mary’s in softball."