Lady Hounds softballers ready for second season

The Lady Greyhound varsity softball team will start a second
season this week when they take on the field in the North Coast
Section 2A playoffs.
The ladies landed their second straight berth by virtue of a
solid, 13-9 overall record, including a perfect 7-0 in division 2A
games this season. At press time, Healdsburg was preparing for a
May 22 home clash against visiting MCAL power San Marin.
The NCS seeding meeting took place on Sunday and Healdsburg
coach Brian Osborn got exactly what he had hoped for ‹ a first
round home game.
³The meeting always goes about the way you expect it to,² said
Osborn, who has guided the team to the playoffs in each of his two
seasons at the helm. ³We¹d like to have been a three seed, but
we¹re happy to get the four and have a home game.²
This week¹s playoff tournament is another affirmation of a
softball program on the rise at Healdsburg after several down
years. Without question, the Hounds¹ 1-0 April win over Petaluma
elevated the team from pretender to NCS contender.
³We lost some games that we felt we should have won but if you
look at our season as a whole, it was a heckuva year,² said Osborn.
³The girls have put in more hard work than probably any other team
because they had to, and I¹m very proud of what they
accomplished.²
The entire list of NCS 2A playoff teams in order of seeding are:
Ursuline, Marin Catholic, Drake, Healdsburg, San Marin and Fortuna.
Should the Lady Hounds beat San Marin, they will play top-seeded
Ursuline on May 25 (time and place TBA). The 2A-championship game
is scheduled for Saturday, May 27.
Last week the ladies ended the SCL season on a down note in a
16-3 loss to Petaluma. Senior ace Jennah Peavler kept it close for
the first three innings, before the Trojans put an eight-spot on
the board in the fourth. Taylor Dericco and Lily Tomkovic finished
the game in mop-up duty, as Petaluma coasted to a lopsided win.
Leading the six-hit Hounds attack were: Tomkovic (2 for 3) and
Charlene Andrews (1 for 3).
Team notes: Peavler ended the SCL season with a team-leading
record of 8-6, with a 2.48 ERA. Leading hitters include: Peavler
(.470 BA) Tomkovic (.327), Andrews (.321), Samantha Erickson (.284,
team-leading 21 runs, 14 RBIs), Devon Dericco (.270, team-leading
18 SBs), Alyssa Baroni (.240, team-leading 16 RBIs) and Brooke
Gustely (18 SBs, tied for team lead). Overall, Healdsburg has
swiped 56 bases and has been caught only six times (.905 SBP).
On Monday, Peavler was named to the SCL all-league first team.
She is joined on the all-league squad by junior teammates Devon
Dericco and Samantha Erickson, who were named as second-team
selectees.