Willow Glen won its first 28 games this season and nearly stretched the streak to 29 but lost to St. Francis on Saturday in eight innings with the Central Coast Section Open Division championship on the line.
Given a chance to return to its winning ways Tuesday in Loomis, Willow Glen instead watched its season end.
Second-seeded Del Oro scored seven runs in the first inning, withstood a four-run Willow Glen rally in the fourth and went on to advance to the semifinals of the CIF Northern California Division I regionals with a 9-4 victory over the seventh-seeded Rams.
The Golden Eagles will be back at home on Thursday to face third-seeded St. Francis, which rallied to beat Rocklin 3-2 on Tuesday after defeating Willow Glen 9-6 on Saturday.
Lea Crawford accounted for all four Willow Glen runs with a fourth-inning grand slam that cut the margin to 7-4.
Del Oro answered with two in the bottom half of the frame.
Maia Mendoza and Haley Ocumen each had a hit for Willow Glen, which finished 28-2.
Del Oro improved to 29-2.
No. 1 Oak Ridge 10, No. 8 Capuchino 0
The Trojans (25-4) scored four runs in the first inning and five more in the second. The game was called after 4½ innings due to the 10-run rule. Oak Ridge won for the 10th time in 11 games.Capuchino (21-8) managed only two hits against Trojans’ pitcher Ellison Schroeder, one each by Avery Motroni and Lily Thomas.
Motroni, who will continue playing softball at Arizona State next season, hit .511 this season with 11 doubles, one triple and five homers. She drove in 34 runs.
Schroeder has signed to play at Santa Clara next season. She won 20 games this season and averaged over a strikeout per inning.
Division II
No. 4 Liberty 14, No. 3 Central Catholic 3
The Lions made quick work of Central Catholic at home as they scored 14 runs on 14 hits to advance to the semifinals.
Kylee McKinney, Taylor Jennings and Isabella Rice each had a home run and three RBIs. Liberty built a five-run lead after three innings and exploded for seven in the fourth to put the game away.
Liberty (24-4) will travel to top-seeded Vanden on Thursday.
No. 1 Vanden 7, No. 8 Foothill 6
In a game where the lead changed hands four times, the Vikings (22-4) scored twice in the bottom of the seventh to pull out the hard-fought victory.
The Falcons (16-10-1) had three two-run innings and had leads of 2-1 and 6-5, but it wasn’t enough.
Foothill took its last lead at 6-5 in the sixth. Naima Braham doubled to left and took third on a sacrifice. A ground ball tied the score, then sophomore Alexa Sponsel homered to center, putting the Falcons ahead.
It didn’t last. Ayrelyn Chavez and KJ Horton hit RBI doubles in the seventh to win the game for Vanden. Horton’s double was a walk off.
Sophia Burdick, Kaycie Burdick, Addison Chandler and Sponsel each had two of the Falcons’ 12 hits.
Division III
No. 6 Pleasant Valley 1, No. 3 Carondelet 0
Pleasant Valley needed just one run to beat Carondelet as senior Alissa Snipes dominated in the pitcher’s circle.
Snipes threw a one-hitter and struck out eight to lead Pleasant Valley into the semifinals on Thursday at No. 2 Cardinal Newman.
Carondelet finished the season 15-14.
Division IV
No. 4 Northgate 11, No. 5 Gridley 2
Chloe Alfonso homered, Lucky Franco and Stella Hanko each drove in two runs and Ashley Herman struck out 13 to lead Northgate past visiting Gridley in an opening-round NorCal Division IV game.
The Broncos scored eight runs in the second, gave up two in the fourth and then responded with two in the fifth and one in the sixth.
Northgate (14-11) will travel to play top-seeded East Nicolaus in the semifinals on Thursday.
Gridley finished 19-6.
No. 1 East Nicolaus 7, No. 8 Woodside 1
East Nicolaus built a 5-0 lead through five innings and coasted. The Wildcats cut the lead to 5-1 with a run in the sixth, but the home team came right back with two in the bottom of the inning.
Elizabeth Severin scored the Woodside run on an error. She reached base on a walk.
The Wildcats (16-12) managed only three hits, including a double by Marisa Calderon.
East Nicolaus (22-6) will host Northgate in the D-IV semifinals on Thursday.