SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Sophomore catcher Jocelyn Villaflor hit 4-for-5 with two doubles and three runs batted in while junior pitcher Reese Lewis added 3-for-3 and a sacrifice fly, as St. Francis wrapped its regular season with a 10-inning, 9-9 tie with Davis in Sierra Foothill League girls' softball action Wednesday.

The Troubadours move to 5-21-1 overall and 0-13-1 in SFL play. The Blue Devils are now 11-13-2 with a 1-11-2 league record. The contest was ruled a draw when both teams matched each other run for run in the three extra innings, then coaches and umpires agreed to end the contest due to darkness.

Wednesday's game also served as Senior Day for St. Francis, which honored 2025 graduates Emma Fox, Kylee Garrett, Claire Krotine and team manager Kalia Taylan prior to first pitch. All three senior players recorded hits: Krotine finished 1-for-5 with two runs as the leadoff right fielder, Garrett hit 2-for-5 with a run scored while handling shortstop duties, with Fox going 1-for-3 with a sacrifice bunt in the eighth.

 

Besides her offensive contributions, Villaflor also gunned down three would-be base stealers during the game, including back-to-back in the second. The third ended the sixth and erased the effects of a dropped-throw error.

Villaflor ripped her first double of the game in the third, scoring Alexis McFarland to cut the Davis lead to 5-2. However, it was her second two-bagger to proved pivotal to the game. Krotine led off the seventh with a hard bounding ball through the right side for a hit, moved up 60 feet on Lewis' single to center, then stole third during Marissa Jensen's at-bat. Jensen grounded out to second baseman Gracie Martinez, with courtesy runner Julia Nielsen sliding hard into second to break up any double play possibilities. That scored Krotine to cut the lead to 5-4. With two out and Jensen on first, Villaflor laced a double to right. The Blue Devils' relay throw could not prevent Jensen from scoring, but DSHS catcher Sofia Lester caught Villaflor attempting to take an extra base on the fielder's choice.  

Despite the rundown on the basepaths, Villaflor's double had tied the game at 5-5 and forced the extra frames. Davis enjoyed a two-out rally in the top of the eighth, culminating in freshman Madison Hunter's first career homer. Kaili Heeb entered in relief of starter Reese Lewis, and eventually got out of the jam with a routine fly to McFarland in center.

Garrett led off the Troubies' eighth with a hit, then Isabella Barge worked an 0-2 count into a walk on four straight balls. Fox moved both runners up with a bunt. Two batters later, with two outs, Krotine lifted a fly ball to Addison Sinclair toward Schuster Field's short porch in left. Sinclair ran down the fly but failed to squeeze it in her glove. The ball dropped out, with Garrett and Barge coming in to even the score at 7-7.

With darkness looming on St. Francis' unlit home field, the umpires and coaches convened to agree to invoke the National Federation tiebreaker rule in the ninth, one inning earlier than what is normally prescribed. Davis' automatic runner Martinez scored the go-ahead thanks to shortstop Lily Lingbloom's sinking line drive to left. The Blue Devils later loaded the bases on Sinclair's second single, but once again, McFarland pulled in the third out in center to end the inning and strand three Davis runners.

Heeb opened the ninth with a sacrifice bunt, moving automatic runner McFarland to third. Jensen popped out to Hunter in short left field, with McFarland attempting to turn the short out into a sacrifice fly. Hunter's throw easily beat McFarland to the plate and Jensen was initially called out before the field umpire swooped in to observe that the ball had escaped Lester's glove. Jensen was ruled safe, equalizing the game yet again at 8-8.

The two teams each posted one more run in the 10th. Hunter scored for Davis thanks to a sacrifice bunt by Isabel Chavez-Berman followed by Kylie Yao hit just out of Krotine's reach in right. The Blue Devils jammed the bases for a second straight inning, threatening to extend their lead. However, Lingbloom lifted a pop-up just beyond her dugout, and Fox slammed into the fence in a successful attempt to corral the fly. In the bottom half, Barge's sacrifice and Fox's ground out to the right side was enough to score Garrett for yet another game-tying run, setting the board at 9-9.

With the twilight looming, the umpires and coaches convened for a second time and agreed to call the game as a 9-9 tie. Wednesday's game marked the second draw of the year for the Blue Devils but the first for St. Francis since a 7-7 impasse with Pioneer in tournament action during the 2016 season.

St. Francis now await the announcement of the Sac-Joaquin Section playoff brackets. The top three teams in each league, with four from the SFL and Delta League, are awarded automatic qualifications to the postseason, then all other schools ranked in the top 15 by MaxPreps are added as at-large qualifiers. The Troubies ranked 16th in the SJS Division II, just a fraction of a point behind No. 15 Rodriguez but more than five points in front of No. 17 St. Mary's in the race for that criterion. Brackets will be released by the section office on Friday afternoon after 2 p.m.