BHS Softball: Playoffs return to Barstow

BARSTOW • Although not in the case of Cleveland Cavaliers guard Mo Williams, some guarantees do come true.

Senior first baseman Nicole Ulivarri guaranteed the Barstow High School softball team  would be playing in a home playoff game at some point during the postseason.

While Williams guaranteed a Game 4 win for the Cavs in and was wrong, Ulivarri was dead on.
She even went a little further with her prediction.

“I called it,” Ulivarri said. “I actually said we are going to the championship, and I said we’d get one game at home. I have confidence in this team. I’m proud of us.”

Barstow (13-9; 7-5 Desert Sky League) plays San Dimas (23-4; 15-0 Valle Vista League) in the CIF-Southern Section Division V quarterfinals today at 3:15 p.m.

It wasn’t an easy road to get back home. Today will mark Barstow’s first home playoff game since 2004, when the Aztecs hosted three games en route to the championship game.

This year’s Aztecs started out on the road in Beaumont for a wild card win, traveled to Calvary Murrieta for the first round and played Western in Anaheim on Tuesday. They staved off elimination after the CIF-SS overturned their 4-0 loss against Calvary Murrieta due to a batting practice rule violation and finally broke a 0-0 tie in the ninth inning against Western to win 7-3.

Comparatively, playing with the pressure of being home isn’t a big deal for this team, Barstow coach Daron Banks said.

“These girls don’t fold under pressure,” Banks said. “They keep fighting.”

The last time Barstow hosted a playoff game none of today’s players were in high school and coach Daron Banks wasn’t even living in Barstow. Many of today’s players have limited memories of ‘04 team’s run to the championship game against Oaks Christian, where Barstow lost 7-1.

“I remember we watched a couple games, and I remember I listened to it on the radio when they went over there to play Oaks Christian and that’s all I remember,” Alyssa Maldonado said.

Some weren’t expectingBarstow to get back to the quarterfinals or hosting a playoff game this year.

“A lot of people don’t think we belong at this stage and we are here to prove them wrong and we have,” Ulivarri said. “People at school always said we are not going to make it past first round. They didn’t even think we’d win the wild card game.”
San Dimas enters the contest with a team batting average of .417 and seven players hitting above .400. Gipsy Ramirez leads the team with a .543 average. The Saints have given up just 38 runs all year and top pitcher Kortnie Clark has a 1.12 ERA.

Contact the writer:
(760) 256-4124 or mpeters@desertdispatch.com