Records are through 4/27. (source: MaxPreps.com)
Shortstop Lu Benipayo looks to turn a double play from second base during the NCS final against Clayton Valley on May 31. team’s defense. “DWC! Defense wins championships,” someone shouted while the team took pictures near the scoreboard following the championship victory. That defense allowed Drake to find a new level in the circle as well. “Coming into this year, I knew I had to work on my confidence,” the pitcher said. “It was big when I realized how good of a defense I had behind me. Trusting them really helped make me a better pitcher.” The team’s regular season split with Clayton Valley lead to a co-Diablo Valley League Championship. And to nobody’s surprise on the campus at 4200 Concord Blvd., Concord was seeded behind its rival in a stacked Div. II playoff bracket. The Minutemen were given the No. 4 seed behind No. 1 Petaluma, No. 2 Alhambra and No. 3 Clayton Valley. “We were pretty shocked,” said Benipayo, the team’s steady-handed shortstop. “We thought we might’ve been seeded higher. We’re always the underdogs. Everybody always doubts us but we always come out and shock people.” Why not us? Drake shined in a shutout of top-seed Petaluma in the semifinals, allowing just five hits and striking out five. In the championship, she gave up just two earned runs on a two-run home run in the fifth. She also pounded out two of the team’s 11 hits and drove in four of the nine runs. The Minutemen’s defense was on display throughout the championship game. They committed just one error and made a handful of spectacular plays, including the game’s
final outs — a double play started when Sabrina Winningham made a diving catch in right field and Concord was able to retire an over-aggressive Clayton Valley runner at first base. Three championships. None as one of the top two seeds. “Being the underdog was definitely motivation for these girls,” Coddington said. “We’d hear Concord is going to lose to Clayton because of XYZ. When we won, we were proving once again that you don’t always need the best players to win, you just need to have players who believe in one another.” Coddington reinforced that idea with an anecdote about Pierce, the team’s cleanup hitter for much of the season. Pierce’s varsity career at Concord had been one of frustration after injuries cut both her sophomore and junior seasons short. This season was the complete opposite. She earned a starting job in the outfield and became a very dependable hitter in the cleanup spot for much of the year. She hit .386 and drove in 15 runs over 24 games. But during a 5-2 NCS quarterfinal win over Pinole Valley, she was injured again when her thumb was hit by a pitch. A week later, Concord was set to play in the championship and Pierce was given medical clearance to play. But she knew she wasn’t 100 percent. She went to Coddington and stepped down, “so that someone else could step up,” the coach said. “That was just another example of how these girls were team first all the way.” Players who think that way, and coaches who foster it — it’s how dynasties are built. ✪
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Rank, Prev. Team
Record
1. (3)
James Logan-Union City
26-1
2. (1)
Archbishop Mitty-San Jose
27-1
3. (2)
Amador Valley-Pleasanton
22-3
4. (6)
Vintage-Napa
34-1
5. (7)
Sierra-Manteca
25-2
6. (14)
Casa Roble-Orangevale
24-5
7. (18)
Concord
22-4
8. (12)
San Benito-Hollister
25-3
9. (5)
California-San Ramon
21-5
10. (10)
Petaluma
26-2
11. (17)
Clayton Valley Charter-Concord 22-4
12. (4)
Alhambra-Martinez
23-3-1
13. (15)
Pleasant Grove-Elk Grove
22-11
14. (NR)
Gilroy
19-12
15. (8)
Rocklin
26-5
16. (9)
Elk Grove
24-9
17. (NR)
Pioneer-Woodland
24-6
18. (NR)
Freedom-Oakley
19-6-1
19. (NR)
Christian Brothers-Sacramento
20-11-1
20. (19)
Kimball-Tracy 25-8
DROPPED OUT No. 11 Woodcreek-Roseville (19-9), No. 13 CarlmontBelmont (25-4), Tracy (25-6) and Roseville (20-9-1).
BIGGEST MOVER Concord picks up the title of biggest mover to end out
the season. The Minutemen jump 11 spots from 18 to No. 7. They did so by fighting their way to a second-
straight NCS Div. II championship, and did so as the
No. 4 seed. It was our opinion that the Div. II field was
the deepest of all the NCS tournaments, and Concord’s run included a road victory over the division’s top seed, No. 10 Petaluma.
TEAMS STILL RANKED FROM PRESEASON TOP 20: 10
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June 6, 2013
SportStars™
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