Sierra's Karissa Valdez sends a base knock into play on Tuesday.

Ike Dodson/Sun Post

            STOCKTON — Bear River High’s sharp line drives through the middle of Sierra’s infield and the Bruins’ robot-like defense wasn’t nearly as cheery as balloons or colorful banners, but they delivered the same message.

            Welcome to the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs.

            The reigning Division IV champions bullied Sierra for four first-inning runs and scored twice more in the sixth for a 6-0 shutout in the postseason’s opening round on Wednesday, May 14, at Arnaiz Stadium.

            “The first inning pretty much killed us,” Sierra coach Nick Olmo said. “After that our defense got to work and we did what we were supposed to do.

            “That first inning put us in a hole, and it’s hard to fight out of a hole against a team like that.”

            Sierra managed five hits against a lockdown Bear River defense, and saw a 2-for-4 day from both Karissa Valdez and Heather Scharmann. Emily Silvia also reached base twice, and belted a double to deep left in a noisy seventh inning.

Sierra had committed two errors in the opening inning, and settled down to keep the Bruins quiet for most of the remaining contest.

            “(Bear River’s) defense was pretty much flawless the whole game,” Olmo said. “We needed to play clean the whole way through to stay up with them, but we had two errors right off the bat. I’m not happy that we are out, but I am happy with the way we played defensively after that first inning.”

            Sierra saw a strong start from senior Breann McGraw, who held the Bruins scoreless until surrendering the mound to Gabby Hawkins in the sixth. Hawkins allowed Bear River’s late scores.

            “It was a great season, these kids have a never say die attitude,” Olmo said. “We beat EU, we beat our cross-town rival Manteca twice, and we beat Oakdale twice. We had a ton of fun.”