NorCal Team Of The Week (May 30-June 3) | Hollister Softball

Early Grind Of Games In March, And Pivotal Loss On May 1, Built Hollister Softball Into An Unstoppable Force By Season’s End •

PHOTOS: Larry Kauk / Legndz Photography

After a 33-game season, it’s not always easy to recall vivid details from just any game. But Hollister softball senior pitcher Sophia Mariottini had no trouble remembering the specifics of her team’s 3-2 loss to Mitty-San Jose on May 1. 

“That was our first and only loss on our field,” Mariottini said. “Going into that game, I was so confident. Everyone was confident and we were winning. We were having a great time; we were having fun. And then all of a sudden, everything changed with a few errors. Just a few tiny mental mistakes just completely ruined us.”

Remembering the postgame gathering in left field came just easily. 

“I was so upset and I could barely speak,” the Molloy University-bound pitcher said. “I was trying to give a little speech, but I was just like, I don’t even know what to say. A few of my teammates were crying. We were so upset. … We knew we had that game… And we knew we had to do whatever it takes to come back.”

Anyone who’s followed NorCal and Bay Area softball in the last six weeks knows where this is going. 

Hollister didn’t lose again.

The Haybalers reeled off 10 straight wins to capture both the Central Coast Section Open Division championship and the CIF NorCal Div. I championship. That run included avenging its win over Mitty, and twice defeating NorCal’s No. 1 team for most of the season, St. Francis-Mountain View. 

It was their NorCal title run from May 30-June 3 that landed the Balers among the four teams in our final #SportSquad NorCal Team of the Year vote of 2022-23. They won with more than 60 percent of the vote. 

Hollister (30-3) claimed both of their titles with shutout wins over St. Francis, the last of which was a scoreless pitchers duel between Mariottini and Kate Munnerlyn which went into extra innings. 

As she headed into her team’s first extra inning game of the season, Mariottini knew that all she needed to do was lean on the trust she had for her teammates. 

“I know my defense will back me up. I have full confidence in them and I have confidence in our offense too,” she said. “I just said, ‘I don’t care how many innings I have to pitch, I’m just going to keep doing me and my offense will come through.’ And then they did.”

Hollister won 1-0 in nine innings. The following week they finished No. 1 in SportStars’ final NorCal rankings, and were named CalHiSports.com’s State Team of the Year as well. 

That trust Mariottini talked about was something the Haybalers built and strengthened over an intense stretch of games in mid-March. Hollister played six games (including a tournament doubleheader) from March 15-20, and then played three games from March 24-27. They only lost once. 

“It was rough,” Mariottini admitted as she recalled that two-week grind. “During that time, we didn’t have much time to practice and get to know each other, but we kind of connected on the field and it just kind of spoke for itself. 

“Then all of a sudden we just started clicking more, and we just started to bond more and we kind of grew together. We felt like a family and we felt like we were sisters.”

In addition to Mariottini, who went 28-2 in the circle while also batting .414 on 29 hits, the Haybalers were led by a ton of standout underclassmen. Sophomore Grace Peffley led the team with 52 hits. Junior Mia Philips led the team with 41 RBI, and fellow junior Madeline Bermudez had team-bests in runs (39) and doubles (11). Freshman Taylor Faga was second on the team in both hits (46) and doubles (10).

Mariottini also made sure to shout out her catcher, Dominique Oliveira — yet another junior — who had 34 hits and 28 RBI on the year. 

Vivid details from certain games may prove hard, but the championship memories will live forever.

“I wouldn’t trade any of them for the world,” Mariottini said.