Submitted photo – The St. Bernard’s girls won at St. Vincent de Paul on Friday.

The St. Bernard’s Crusaders enjoyed mixed fortunes in the North Coast Section playoffs on Friday.

The SB girls upset the odds with a 6-4 win at St. Vincent de Paul in softball, while the school’s baseball team lost its section quarterfinal at Head-Royce in Oakland, falling 9-3.

The Crusaders are seeded No. 6 in the Division-5 softball bracket and traveled to Petaluma to play the No. 3 Mustangs.

But matching up against a higher seed didn’t intimidate the Little 4 champs, who have now won nine of their last 10 games as they continue to build momentum.

The victory sets up an NCS semifinal showdown against No. 7 seed Lower Lake on Tuesday evening.

And as the higher seed, the Crusaders will get to host that game in Samoa, with first pitch set for 5 p.m.

The Trojans also upset a higher seed in their quarterfinal on Friday, beating No. 2 Cloverdale 5-3.

The St. Bernard’s girls came ready to play and did not give up any runs until the seventh inning.

The middle of the lineup had a big day at the plate, including Bailey White, who had a key double, and Aubree Saunderson and Kiara McGinnis, who each had timely hits.

“The middle of our lineup did great,” head coach Brian Finck said.

The Tupua sisters — sophomore Sahara and freshman Kyna — both also were instrumental in the win, as they continue to impress on the bases.

“They showed how dangerously quick they are,” Finck added.

Another freshman, Oni Orcutt, also continued to shine in the pitcher’s circle and pitched “another solid game,” according to her coach, while not allowing a hit until the fifth inning.

And she got plenty of support from her defense,.

“This was our best defensive game all year,” Finck said. “So proud of how the girls played. They have come along way this season and we hope to keep it going by beating Lower Lake.”

After scoring one run in each of the second and third innings, the Crusaders would add four insurance runs in the top of the seventh, and they would need them as the home team came storming back with four late runs before running out of time.

Saunderson was 2-for-3, while Sahara Tupua was 2-for-4 and McGinnis finished 1-for-2 with a walk.

File photo – The St. Bernard’s girls knocked off a higher seed on the road on Friday.

With the win, the Crusaders improved to 18-9, while Lower Lake improved to 14-8.

The St. Bernard’s boys, unfortunately, did not fare quite so well in the baseball playoffs as the season came to an end for the two-time defending Division-6 section champions.

The NCS loss was the school’s first since 2019.

The No. 7 seed Crusaders started fast against the No. 2 Jayhawks and took a two-run lead in the top of the first inning.

The advantage did not last long, however, with the Oakland school scoring five runs in the bottom half of the inning to take control.

The Crusaders added a third run in the top of the fourth to narrow the gap to two, but the Jayhawks scored four more runs in the bottom of the sixth and would hold on after that.

Head-Royce pitcher Mathew Wong threw all seven innings for the win on the mound and allowed just two hits.

File photo – The St. Bernard’s baseball team suffered its first NCS loss since 2019 on Friday evening.

Mateo Gutierrez finished 1-for-3 with a double, while teammate Mateo Reiman was 1-for-2 with an RBI.

Michael Manzi got the startt on the mound for St. Bernard’s and threw 5.1 innings, allowing seven hits and four walks and striking out four.

Tyler Hinrichs and Luke Brunton each pitched in relief.

The loss ends the season for a young SB team that has started five or six freshmen and sophomores for much of the spring.

The Crusaders close out with a record of 14-13-1.

Head-Royce will play No. 3 University in next week’s semifinals.