The St. Patrick-St. Vincent High softball team had its season come to an end Wednesday after a 4-0 loss to visiting Fortuna in the North Coast Section Division IV semifinals.

Fortuna sophomore pitcher Hailey Dolcini simply blew away the Lady Bruins, allowing only three hits while striking out 14 for a complete-game shutout. No. 2 seeded SPSV (22-6) came into the semifinals averaging eight runs per game and had struck out a total of seven times in its previous three postseason games, but the Lady Bruins were no match for Dolcini’s heat.

“She’s by far the best we’ve seen and we weren’t near ready to see something like that,” SPSV manager Rich Gigliotti said of Docini, who has already committed to U.C. Riverside. “It was frustrating to watch but it was still pretty spectacular.”

SPSV pitcher Taya de Alba allowed only eight hits but couldn’t completely shut down the Lady Huskies (25-4). No. 3 seeded Fortuna scored one run in the first inning before blowing things open with three runs in the top of the sixth.

Fortuna senior Pyper Daniels led off the game with a single, stole second and ended up scoring on a single to right by Courtney Christensen to make it 1-0. It stayed that way until the sixth when, with runners at second and third, one out and the infield in, Christensen scored from third on a slow grounder to first, barely avoiding the tag by SPSV catcher Jaydee Boursaw. An out later, Victoria Meyer blooped a two-run single to right-center that made it 4-0.

That was plenty of support for Dolcini, who was in complete command all day. Boursaw had two of SPSV’s hits while Marisa Avalos was the only other Lady Bruin to get a hit off the sophomore righty.

“I’m sad that it’s over but I’m not disappointed,” Gigliotti said after the season-ending defeat. “That pitcher was something. Sometimes they’re just better than you are.”

Fortuna advances to the NCS Division IV championship game Saturday night against No. 1 seed Marin Catholic (23-3) at San Marin High School. If Fortuna wins the title, it will be the 10th year in a row SPSV will have either won the NCS championship or lost to the eventual champion in the playoffs. The Lady Bruins won NCS championships in 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2012.

Wednesday also may have been an end to an era as Gigliotti announced he doesn’t plan to return as manager next season. Gigliotti has been coaching for the Lady Bruins for 15 years but feels it’s time to turn things over to someone else.

“We’ve had a great run,” Gigliotti said. “I’m just really lucky to have had the kids that I had and the teams that I had. I’m going to talk to (Athletic Director) Lane Hawkins next week and start preparing for the transition. I want to make things as easy as I can for whoever ends up becoming the new manager.”

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