O'Dea's double sends Lady Wildcats to section title game

With no score in the bottom of the fourth and one out, Whitney High senior Sarah O'Dea hit a double into the gap between center and right field to bring two runs home. The hit proved to be the difference as the Lady Wildcats defeated St. Mary's High 2-0 in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II softball semifinals on Tuesday. "It always feels great to get that good scoring hit," O'Dea said. "I went into that at-bat knowing that I needed to support my team and there were runners in scoring position. I had to at least move them over and then scoring both obviously helped." O'Dea is only one of four seniors on the team as the Wildcats are full of young talent with six juniors, six sophomores and three freshmen. "We made the decision to carry 17 girls because we had some young freshmen who could help out in baserunning, a pinch bunt, whatever it might be," Wildcats coach Mike Mello said. "I want them to experience this so that they know what it feels like for the next four years and they can feed off of it. The future is very bright here." Junior Hannah Duncan also played a key role in the win as she pitched a complete game shutout with six strikeouts and only allowed six hits. Duncan has a 7-0 record on the season with a 1.70 earned run average. "I always take a deep breath in those really stressful, exciting moments and just relax while hitting my spots, getting my spins going and knowing that I have a good defense behind me," Duncan said. St. Mary's High started the game strong with a triple by Ariel Nava in the first but a ground out ended the inning for the Rams. Nava also pitched a complete game for the Rams, only allowing two runs and four hits while striking out five. For Whitney High, Tylie Kitchen had two hits on the day while Alyssa Jeffrey also singled. The Wildcats will compete for their first section title since 2019 when they defeated Tracy High. Whitney High also made appearances in 2011 and 2012. The Lady Wildcats will face Vacaville High at Sacramento State at 1 p.m. Saturday. "We're going to get back to the lab tomorrow and work again," Mello said. "Just be loose, that's the thing is not being tight in these big situations. In 2019, we went on an unbelievable run and that's because they were loose. We'd have the music on and they'd be dancing before the game and that's what I want. We have a good chance to take this whole thing and it's going to be fun to watch."