SPSV’S SOFTBALL program honored its three senior players before Wednesday night’s home game against Salesian. The Lady Bruin seniors are (from left) Adriana Vargas, Taya de Alba and Jennifer Adams.

The St. Patrick-St. Vincent High varsity softball team broke open a close game with three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning and held on to beat visiting Salesian on Wednesday, 4-2.

It was the second win over the defending North Coast Section champions in as many tries this year for the Lady Bruins (19-4, 9-0 Tri-County Athletic League), who honored seniors Jennifer Adams, Taya de Alba and Adriana Vargas before the game.

“They’re our biggest rival, especially after the last couple of years,” Adams said of Salesian. “It’s big to beat them twice because they used to always beat us. It gives us a lot of confidence.”

Salesian’s Mariah Schuchart hit a solo home run in the top of the first but SPSV tied it in the bottom half thanks to a double by Neenah Pangilinan and an RBI single by Jaydee Boursaw.

It remained tied until the fifth when a Salesian error, a double by Chelsea Mari and singles by Adams and Natalya Ocon broke the game open. The Lady Bruins then turned things over to de Alba, who threw a complete game and scattered six hits.

“We played really good defense and threw a couple runners out on the bases,” said SPSV manager Rich Gigliotti. “We’re playing better defense than our opponents and that’s often the difference.”

SPSV wraps up the regular season Friday at Pinole Valley and has already clinched the top seed and a first-round bye for the upcoming TCAL playoffs.

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