Del Oro pitches no-hitter but drops softball playoff opener to Bear Creek

Sixth-seeded Del Oro High School began defense of its Sac-Joaquin Section Division II softball championship by hosting No. 11 Stockton-Bear Creek on Tuesday. The Bruins entered the postseason as winners of 13 straight and were looking for an upset. Del Oro pitcher Daniella Morillas struck out 12 and threw a no-hitter, but walks, wild pitches and errors haunted the Golden Eagles as they were upset 3-1. "I don't want to take away from Bear Creek by saying they didn't get any hits and we made mistakes. We only made a couple of mistakes," Del Oro coach Sean Erickson said. "I want to give the credit to them. I think Bear Creek came here to win today and they took advantage of their opportunities." The Bruins (19-6) pushed two runs across the plate in the top of the first inning, as Raylani Elias scored on a wild pitch before Gianna Galli scored on a two-out error. The Golden Eagles (11-14) responded and put themselves in position to score several times with loud contact and aggressive baserunning, but the Bruins countered with strong defense to hold the hosts to one run. Del Oro left seven runners on base. "We knew she's a good pitcher and we just knew we had to take advantage anytime we got on base," Bear Creek coach Kirk Klucznik said of Morillas. "Luckily, we had opportunities to move up. We were aggressive when we could be and defensively, that was probably one of our best games that I've seen in a while. That was a really good time to do that, too." The Golden Eagles scored in the third on an RBI double by Morgan Golightly. Bear Creek sophomore pitcher Natalie Trujillo was efficient, walking just one. She allowed seven hits and recorded no strikeouts, letting her defense work behind her. "We just focus on trying to stay loose and have fun because this is just a game," Klucznik said. "I try to remind them that. I tried to remind myself of that, too. Today, that really worked out well for us, and I think these girls are bought in that they can keep this going." The Bruins will look to keep their Cinderella run going in the quarterfinals Thursday when they face No. 3 St. Mary's. Del Oro lost five straight to end the season, and while it leaves a bitter taste for the young team, Erickson wants it to be wiped from their memory. "I want them to get rid of this in their minds. I don't think it was a good loss," Erickson said. "I think it's a bad loss and you probably need to leave that one behind. I want these girls to come back next year and be ready to work. We had a couple of chances and they made double plays and just kept us out of it."