Lady Dragons NCS 9th-seed, on road

On the heels of their Sonoma County League second-place finish with a 9-3 record and overall 15-10 mark, the Sonoma Valley High School varsity girls softball team had five players recently garner SCL all-league honors, then it received the ninth-seeding for the North Coast Section Division-3 championship playoffs on Sunday.

The Lady Dragons will hit the road for tomorrow’s, Wednesday, May 27, NCS Division-3 4 p.m. opener against eighth-seed Encinal (12-10-1, WACC-F) at Lower Washington Park in Alameda, with the winner playing at top-seed Bishop O’Dowd (22-4, WACC-F champion), which had a first-round bye.

Rounding out the NCS Division-3 opening-round pairings are fourth-seeded Albany (14-6, TCAL-R) hosting 13th-seed El Cerrito (10-3, TCAL-S champion); fifth-seed Analy (15-11, SCL) hosting Eureka (10-16, HDNL-Big 5); sixth-seed Tamalpais (13-11, MCAL) hosting 11th-seed Piner (9-15, SCL); and seventh-seed San Rafael (10-12, MCAL) hosting 10th-seed Acalanes (9-10, DFAL); with second-seed San Marin (14-7, MCAL) and third-seed Del Norte (22-5, HDNL-Big 5), both receiving byes.

•••

Named SCL first-team all-league for Sonoma were senior pitcher Hannah Herrick, senior catcher Shawny McVeigh, and sophomore first-baseman Hayden Pearce, who are all repeat all-league honorees.

As a pitcher, Herrick had a combined SCL and nonleague record of 11-7, with a 1.87 ERA, 125 strikeouts and 51 walks, while as a batter she had a .347 average, 26 hits – including two doubles and three triples – 18 RBIs and 16 runs.

Pearce led the team in most offensive categories, including a .473 average, 35 hits, 29 RBIs, 23 runs and eight doubles, also adding two triples and a homer, while playing top-level defense.

McVeigh was one of the top defensive catchers in the league and batted .327, with 18 hits, 11 RBIs and nine runs.

Lady Dragon sophomores center-fielder Maddy Lentini and second-baseman Melena Mackey were SCL all-league second-team selections for their defense and offensive production, including .304 and .339 batting averages, respectively.