With a third place finish in the EBAL, top 10 Bay Area ranking and a NCS semifinal run, the Cal High softball team finished its season with its head held high.

The Lady Grizzlies (18-9, 6-6 EBAL) knew they had their work cut out for them entering the postseason, especially after losing senior Kylie Fan to a broken arm late in the season.

But that didn’t stop seventh-seeded Cal from pulling the upset of the playoffs by beating five-time NCS champion Freedom 10-4 in eight innings in the quarterfinals on May 23.

The ladies tied Freedom 3-3 when they were down to their last out in the seventh inning. Once the game entered extra innings, one hit came after another as Cal racked up seven more runs in their surprising upset.

“I don’t care who they are, what their names are, but we’re going to take it to them,” said senior Leanna Gallegos. “They’re done.”

Cal entered the NCS semifinals at Granada on this high but left empty handed with a 5-1 loss to its league rival on May 25.

“We just didn’t hit as well as usual,” said freshman Mariah Nisbet. “Simple as that.”

The ladies pulled off an impressive 3-2 victory against 10th seeded Livermore in the first round of the NCS playoffs on May 22.

The ladies held a 3-0 lead until the top of the seventh inning when a costly Cal error allowed two Livermore runs. With two outs and a runner on third, sophomore pitcher Krista Miller held her composure and struck out the next batter to put away the game.

“It was very nerve-wracking, I was really nervous,” said Krista. “I tried to just focus on hitting my spots, and I did.”

Coach Tom Jones said the team took open opportunities when given on offense, and shutdown the Livermore runners on defense.

“We took it(the year) in strides,” said Jones. “We treated every game like any other game. One at a time.”

The Lady Grizzlies made the NCS run without one of they’re most key players.

Senior Kylie Fan unfortunately broke her Ulna two weeks before the start of the tournament, in a 3-1 loss against San Ramon Valley on May 10. She received reconstructive surgery a week later putting her out for at least two months.

Kylie believed the team had a legitimate shot at an NCS title birth, and even an NCS title.

“We’ve pulled through so many obstacles and key injuries,” said Kylie. “There is no reason why we shouldn’t have won.”