Bubbles, bubbles and more bubbles!

With each barrel of the bat, more would appear, including three times in four plate appearances for the Pioneer High School varsity softball team on Friday afternoon in Sacramento.

The Patriots concluded the regular season with their 11th consecutive win, shutting out St. Francis 6-0 in a Top 20 matchup. Pioneer came into the road contest as underdogs, at least according to The Sacramento Bee softball rankings. The Patriots (20-5) are currently No. 18 while the Troubadours (16-9) are No. 5.“I think the rankings don’t really matter because on paper they look good, but really, it’s how they perform out here,” proclaimed junior third baseman Sofia Hernandez. “Today’s game was really good. We came in here really pumped up and ready to win. It was good preparation for playoffs.”

In a year when Pioneer has competed against its most challenging non-league schedule in program history, an emphatic statement was made at St. Francis. The Patriots were led to a complete game shutout by junior right-handed pitcher Jia Beebe (18-4) in the circle. Pioneer pulverized 5 home runs, with 3 off the bat of superstar sophomore shortstop Marisa Bryson.

“I think it was a team effort. We played really solid defense and our bats really caught on fire. In the fourth inning we started timing better pitches,” Bryson recalled. “I was just really excited because in previous games, I’ve been getting walked a lot and pitched differently. It was just fun to see some pitches and get to swing.”

Hernandez and junior catcher Ashley Gruben joined Bryson in the bubble bash with respective bombs. During the regular season, Bryson led the Golden Empire League with 11 total HR, followed by Hernandez in second with 9 and Gruben tied for fourth with 4.

“The bats were on fire! We really made great adjustments throughout the game, our bats collectively got better and we got those runs we wanted. Marisa’s bat was on fire. Three for three with three home runs? That’s pretty good,” said senior second baseman Briana Parker. “Jia pitched a really great game. I really think she threw the ball well and really worked on hitting her spots. Even if they got hits, our defense really settled in and we worked collectively to get the outs we needed. They didn’t score any runs, which is really great.”

Beebe has pitched every single inning for the Patriots in their last 10 games. The phenomenal flamethrower has had to become Pioneer’s workhorse without any relief due to a right ring finger injury to sophomore RHP Gracie McGinty. Beebe tossed 7.0 scoreless frames Friday and allowed 5 hits with 3 strikeouts on an efficient 71 pitches, showing why her head coach refers to her as “our ice princess.”

“Hey, we’re ready to go! This was a very good showing on our part with great defense. The battery, again, worked really well and some awesome hitting the long ball. I can’t remember when we had one player hit three before. Then Sof hit one and Ashley hit one, that’s a lot of home runs,” said coach Linda Merrida. “I expected it. I’ve been waiting 20-something games to see our power explode. That’s going to carry us into the playoffs knowing that they can hit any pitching and adjust to it.”

The last time a Patriot hit three home runs came three yers ago and it was another Bryson. As a senior, Marisa’s older sister Lauren went 4-for-4 with 3 HR on April 29, 2021 during a 10-0 win against Winters. Lauren is now bashing bombs at Santa Clara University.

The Patriots scored 4 runs in the fourth inning and 1 in each of the fifth and seventh. The Bash Sisters got the party started. Bryson belted her first opposite field homer of the year, a leadoff solo shot to right field. Then Hernandez crushed a blast to left field, boasting back-to-back bombs. Sophomore first baseman Caitlin Mayfield recorded Pioneer’s third straight hit with a single to left. Then Gruben smashed a 2-run shot to left, making the score 4-0.

“I knew that we could do this and our momentum was really high during it too. We all really stuck together as a team during that time,” Hernandez said. “(Bryson) is such a good hitter and you want to keep that going. So I just try to keep that momentum going after she hits.”

Bryson hit her second home run of the afternoon with another solo in the fifth. The Bash Sisters nearly went back-to-back, again, but Hernandez’s hit landed just in front of the fence in deep center field, so she had to settle for a double. Bryson achieved her first career hat trick at the high school level with another solo shot in the seventh to make the final score 6-0.

“Sofia had a home run and a double, her hitting was just really on point as well as her defense,” Bryson explained. “It just shows how far we’ve come in a season. I think we’ve really improved in our game and are ready for the playoffs. We’re really excited and think we have a good chance this year.”

The Patriots preserved Beebe’s ninth shutout of the campaign with a spectacular play to record the last out. Junior outfielder Abril Parker fielded a hit in center and fired it home to Gruben, who tagged out senior SS Francesca Guerrera for the final out.

“After all the hard non-league games that we’ve won, I think we can really do it and go all the way,” Hernandez foretold.

Briana was selected to the Optimist All-Star Game, which Merrida will be coaching. The contest is at Folsom Lake College on June 4 at 4 p.m. While Briana may be thrilled to compete among the Sac-Joaquin Section’s finest next month, she remains laser focused on the business at hand: winning a section championship.

“I was really excited and I’m looking forward to finishing off my last game with a bunch of seniors that I’ve played with like Dixon. It’ll be the last time wearing my high school uniform and a fun way to finish off the season,” Briana foreshadowed. “Our confidence is really high this year, we are really working at each game, we’re going to keep taking it one game at a time and not underestimate anybody. Basically just working hard at practice and making sure the focus has to be there, that’s the main thing for each game, focus.”

Pioneer is the No. 3 seed in the Division III CIF SJS Playoffs, which begin Tuesday at 4 p.m. The Patriots will host No. 14 Del Campo (6-15) of Fair Oaks in the first round.

“At the beginning of the season we were kind of dipping our toes into these teams, we didn’t really know what we were getting yet,” Briana recalled. “Now I just think we’ve stepped it up a whole new level, we really have our mindset on playoffs now and really want to get that title hopefully. We want to keep winning and we’re not taking anyone for granted.”

Merrida manufactured Pioneer’s non-league schedule to be extremely challenging this season to prepare her team for the postseason. The Patriots appear to be peaking at the right time and that will be put to the test starting next week.

“It looks pretty good where we are in the bracket. We’re in the bracket below the No. 1 seed Capital Christian, who has a very outstanding pitcher,” Merrida explained. “We’re in the same eight with Oakdale, who gave us our loss last year. We have a chance to maybe see them in the semifinals and it would be nice to pay them back. I think we are much improved from last year.”