Schools
Hillers Beat Broncos to Qualify for CIF Championship Game in Softball
Grossmont will face Poway for the second time in three days at UCSD on Saturday.
Pitching with only minutes rest between games, Grossmont High senior Rachel Stalford had 12 strikeouts in leading the Hillers to a 7-4 victory Thursday night over Rancho Bernardo in the CIF San Diego Section Division I softball playoffs at the Poway Sportsplex.
Stalford also pitched against Poway earlier in the evening in the double-elimination tournament. The Titans blanked Grossmont 2-0 to remain the only unbeaten team in the tourney.
By avoiding a second defeat, the Hillers advanced to the Division I championship game against Poway at 7 p.m. Saturday at UCSD.
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Aubrie May and Hayley Kasden each had two hits for Grossmont, and Amanda Porter, Taylor Waters and Sarah Nicks added a hit apiece.
All of Rancho Bernardo's runs came off home runs. After Madeline McIntyre and Danielle Knoetze hit solo shots to give RB a 2-0 lead in the second, Grossmont countered with five runs in the bottom of the inning and built the lead with single runs in the fourth and fifth frames. That was enough to offset a two-run homer by Madison Jones in the fifth.