SOFTBALL: San Mateo Rolls in Woodside Showdown

The Score: San Mateo 4, Woodside 2.

The Star: San Mateo High junior Jennifer Gomez delivered the biggest hit in a road victory on Friday afternoon that gives the Bearcats firm control of the Peninsula Athletic League Ocean Division and their Central Coast Section playoff destiny. With two outs in the top of the fourth inning, the designated player won an eight-pitch battle against Woodside left-hander Ashley Miller by smashing a two-run single to right-centerfield to give San Mateo a 2-1 lead. The No. 6 hitter also drew a two-out walk before the Bearcats scored their final run in the sixth.

The Turning Point: San Mateo’s three-run fourth. Miller (14-4) had allowed no hits and had faced one batter over the minimum in the first three innings as Woodside took a 1-0 lead. But the Bearcats took control as Elisa Pineda followed Gomez’s two-RBI single with a run-scoring single to right to give the visitors a 3-1 advantage. On a day when San Mateo’s Nos. 3-5 batters went a combined 1-for-8, the production of Gomez (1-for-2, two RBIs) and Pineda (2-for-3, two RBIs) was critical.

The Quote: “So important. We want to make CCS so bad. If we won, we’d have that edge and we want to keep it going now. … It’s so much better knowing that we beat them.” – San Mateo senior third baseman Elisa Pineda, on the significance of the game against second-place Woodside.

What’s Next? The Bearcats (10-3, 5-0 PAL Ocean) visit Sequoia on Wednesday at 4 p.m. in a league game.

The Bottom Line: San Mateo is in prime position to claim the outright PAL Ocean championship and resulting automatic bid to the CCS playoffs. A year after sharing the league title with Woodside and Sequoia, the Bearcats now own a 1 ½-game lead (and a two-game edge in the loss column) over Woodside (15-4, 4-2) with five games left.

Notes: San Mateo pitcher Bailey Sutton (10-3) allowed seven hits and two runs, one earned, but she successfully weaved out of several threats, stranding at least one runner in scoring position in four innings. The junior right-hander’s finest work came in the fifth when Woodside loaded the bases with one out. Sutton (six strikeouts, two walks) got Nos. 4-5 batters Rebecca Pilakowski and Amanda Canepa to foul out to preserve a 3-1 lead. … Woodside grabbed the lead two batters into the bottom of the first. Kimi Wong led off with a single to right and then Samantha Parker crushed an RBI double to left. Parker finished 3-for-4. … Tayler Titus began San Mateo’s fourth-inning rally with a leadoff single, and she added a single in the fifth. … The Bearcats, No. 9 in Patch's weekly , to Woodside's No. 10, totaled seven hits, all singles. … Gomez and Pineda had combined for five RBIs in 52 at-bats entering Friday.

________________________________________________________________

San Mateo 4, Woodside 2

SM – 000 301 0 – 4 7 3

W – 100 001 0 – 2 7 1

WP: Sutton (10-3). LP: Miller (14-4).

2B: Parker (W). 3 hits: Parker (W). 2 hits: Titus, Pineda (SM); S. Canepa (W). 2 RBI: Gomez, Pineda (W).

Records: San Mateo 10-3, 5-0 PAL Ocean. Woodside 15-4, 4-2.