File photos – Tsinte Steinruck is one of three Del Norte seniors who will play at College of the Redwoods next season.
Their high schools may have ended a little sooner than hoped for, but several of the Del Norte seniors appear to have a bright future ahead of them.
On Friday evening, the Warriors welcomed Freedom to Crescent City for a North Coast Section Division-3 quarterfinal in softball and fell 7-4.
The visitors scored five runs in the top of the fourth, keyed by a three-run home run by freshman Jaiden Proctor, and that would ultimately prove to the be the difference.
However, as they have all season long, the Warriors continued to battle and would score four unanswered runs in the fourth and fifth innings to pul back within two.
But the Falcons held on down the stretch to march on to the semifinals.
“I thought overall the kids came to play,” Del Norte head coach Aaron Healy said of his players. “They were excited, they wanted to win and they competed.”
Audrey Phillips, one of nine seniors on the team, closed out her high school career with a very good individual performance.
The standout second baseman finished 2-for-3 and hit a solo home run, while also making several big plays on defense.
“Audrey Phillips had a great day at second base,” Healy said. “She did awesome over there.”
Fellow senior Carlee Harper also impressed and finished 2-for-4, while freshman Addi Whitford was 1-for-2 with a walk.
Khloe Smith and Tsinte Steinruck each also had a base hit in the loss.
Shay Nolan took the loss in the circle, but turned in a gutsy performance, as always.
“Shay’s a bulldog,” Healy said. “She went out there and battled, and just battled and battled. She stayed in the moment.
“I’m definitely going to miss her. I’m going to miss all of those seniors.”
The outfield also had a good day, with junior right fielder Bella Arriola making a key diving catch.
“My outfield did their job once again,” Healy added. “They did a solid job.”
Despite the loss and a disappointing end to the campaign, it was, nonetheless, a very successful campaign for the Del Norte girls.
The team lost just four of 24 games and won a third straight Big 5 championship.
Over the past three seasons, the seniors have combined to go 31-5 in the Big 5 (64-20 overall).
And now many of them will be taking their talents to the college fields.
Steinruck, Harper and Phillips will all play at College of the Redwoods, while Smith, who is an outstanding shortstop, will play at College of the Siskiyous.
And Healy believes all four of those players have the talent and mindset to succeed at the next level.
“They have the ability, for sure,” the coach said. “They’re just fighters.”
Overall, Healy believes it was a successful season for the program.
“As far as the whole season, we had our ups and downs, but they never quit,” he said. “They fought all the way. It was a very exciting year. Everybody chipped in and did their job.
“It was a very successful year. I was very pleased. We only had four losses, that’s very impressive. And that’s three years in a row we were league champions.”
