Future appears bright for young Huskies despite NCS playoff loss

By barstoolfanatics on May 22, 2024 • ( Leave a comment )

File photo – Fortuna’s Myra Hayes

With just two seniors graduating from this year’s team, the future appears bright for the Fortuna Huskies.

On Tuesday evening, the Huskies bowed out of the North Coast Section softball playoffs after a 3-1 loss at St. Helena in the Division-4 semifinals.

But the Fortuna girls had their opportunities and pushed the top seeds in the bracket all the way.

“Overall we played pretty well,” Fortuna head coach Eric Helms said. “We made a couple of mistakes defensively, but we played well.”

St. Helena junior Tahlia Smith pitched all seven innings for the win in the circle and gave up just four hits while striking out 13 and walking none.

Smith closed out strong and struck out six of the final nine Fortuna batters.

But despite her big performance, the No. 4 seeded Huskies had their chances.

“She did quite well. We had our opportunities though,” said Helms, whose team took an early one-run lead and stranded three runners in scoring position in the third and fourth innings.

Isabel Sanchez, who has been banged up a little down the stretch of the season, got the start in the circle for Fortuna and began the game well as the home team was held scoreless through the opening three innings.

The Saints would tie the game in the bottom of the fourth and added two more runs in the fifth.

Sanchez threw four innings and struck out three, before junior Myra Hayes took over in the circle and pitched well over the final two innings.

Faith Helms

Isabel Sanchez

The Huskies closed out with a record of 17-8 and a young roster was competitive in just about every game, including a 7-1 playoff win over Piedmont on Saturday.

The Huskies also made it to the Charles Lakin tournament championship game for the first time since 2017, where they lost to Big 5 champion Del Norte.

“I was very pleased with how this team came together,” Helms added. “I’m really looking forward to seeing what this team can do.”

Seniors Kadence Mace and Ashley Jenks will be missed and did a good job leading the Huskies this season, according to their head coach.

But the majority of the players are expected back next spring and should be better and more experienced, including several young standouts who made a big impact this year.

Sanchez is just a sophomore and has already established herself as one of the top pitchers in the H-DNL, while the freshmen tandem of Olivia Scilacci and Evelyn Little both played beyond their years while earning starting roles in their first year at the varsity level.

“Isabel was really dominant in the circle for the majority of the year,” Helms said.

Junior faith Helms also was a standout behind the plate and should take on an even bigger leadership role in 2025, along with fellow junior Mariah Bravo, who has become one of the Huskies’ most reliable gloves at shortstop.

Big things are also expected out of sophomore Olivia Hayes, who made two big plays in right field at St. Helena, throwing a runner out at third and almost denying the Saints one of their runs with a good throw to home plate.

Myra Hayes played a key role on this this year’s team too, and the junior was a force at the plate, finishing with a batting average of over .400.

Against St. Helena, Faith Helms was 1-for-2 and scored her team’s only run, while Olivia Hayes was 1-for-3 with the Huskies’ only RBI.

Myra Hayes and Sanchez each also had a base hit.

With the win, the Saints improved to 20-4 as they get set for this weekend’s NCS championship game game against either Del Norte or Salesian, who face off in the second semifinal on Wednesday evening.