Gigi Gritt’s Walk-Off Hit in 7th Gives San Marcos Softball the Outright Channel League Title
Senior pitcher Allie Fryklund blanks Dos Pueblos for the second time in a week
The San Marcos softball team mobs Gigi Gritt after her walk-off hit in the bottom of the seventh inning to beat Dos Pueblos, 1-0, and give the Royals the outright Channel League title. (Felipe Garcia / Noozhawk photo)
By Barry Punzal, Noozhawk Sports Editor | @NoozhawkSports May 27, 2021
Gigi Gritt was ready for the big moment in a big game.
Coming up after an intentional walk to Allie Fryklund loaded the bases for San Marcos in the bottom of the seventh inning of a scoreless game, Gritt stepped up and ripped a walk-off single to right field for a 1-0 victory over Dos Pueblos, giving the Royals the outright Channel League championship on Thursday.
“To come through in that situation, there’s no one I’d rather have up there because of her maturity,” San Marcos coach Jeff Swann said of his sophomore catcher. “She’s calm and she has a great understanding of the game, and she knows the strike zone. That was the perfect player to have in there.”
San Marcos finishes with a 14-1 record in league play and will take a 17-4 overall mark into next week’s CIF-SS Division 5 playoffs. Dos Pueblos, which had a chance to earn a co-championship with a win, will go into the Division 3 playoffs with records of 12-3 and 16-7 overall. The playoff pairings will be announced Saturday.
The San Marcos seventh started with freshman and No. 9 hitter Emma Foster drawing a lead-off walk. She advanced to second when Kamilah Morales hit a hard grounder that deflected off pitcher Georgia Wilson’s glove for an infield single. Caitlyn Early hit into a force play at second, which moved Foster to third.
Fryklund received the free pass to load the bases before Gritt smashed the ball to right field to bring Foster home and set off a San Marcos celebration.
San Marcos senior pitcher Allie Fryklund allowed three hits and struck out nine in her second shutout of the week against Dos Pueblos. (Felipe Garcia / Noozhawk photo)
“I kind of had it in the back of my head they’d do it,” Gritt said about DP intentionally walking Fryklund to face her. “I just knew I had to get the job done.”
Fryklund, the only senior on the San Marcos squad, knew Gritt would come through.
“I was totally confident in Gigi,” said Fryklund, who struck out nine and shut out Dos Pueblos twice in the final week of the regular season. “She doesn’t give herself enough credit. She’s a great player, a great catcher. I couldn’t ask for someone better behind the plate.”
Swann called the game-winning scenario “the perfect set up.”
“Emma is the No. 9 hitter. She’s fast, finds a way to get on base and sets it up for those kids to come up,” he said. “To be able to do that in a 0-0 game, the league championship on the line against your league rival, and to be able to come through like that, the feeling is indescribable. It’s awesome.”
Gritt said it felt “amazing” to deliver the walk-off hit and win the outright championship. She was also happy to do it for Fryklund.
“It was so important. She is one of the hardest workers on the team,” Gritt said. “I think she wanted that more than anyone. We really wanted to get that for her. It was great.”
Emma Foster led off the seventh with a walk and scored the winning run on Gigi Gritt’s single to right field. (Felipe Garcia / Noozhawk photo)
Fryklund said: “We really deserve it. Every single girl put their heart and soul into this. It was great way to be rewarded on senior day.”
Dos Pueblos coach Mike Gerken expressed his appreciation on how hard both teams battled and how well Fryklund and Wilson performed in the big game.
Wilson pitched out of threats in the second, fourth, fifth and sixth innings.
“She’s really good at locating her pitches, and it keeps the batters off (balance) and they don’t get a lot of barrels on it,” he said of Wilson. “Credit to Gigi, she got a barrel on it. It didn’t mattered if we caught that or not, the girl would have moonwalked home.”
Gerken said the lead-off walk to Foster and tough break on Early’s ground ball were key plays in the seventh.
“It was going to come down to one hit,” he said. “I knew that first batter in the bottom of the seventh was very important, and she got on base. And then we had a deflection (on Early’s grounder). That’s kind of how it works. But they got the hit that they needed.”
Despite the loss, Gerken said the takeaway from these intense rivalry games are the great memories the players will take with them.
“I talk about this game being a game of memories and moments,” he said. “When we were here last time, we had a moment (a come-from-behind 5-4 win). This time, Gigi had a moment, and that’ll be a moment she has for the rest of her life.”
Gritt said when Foster walked to start the inning, the Royals knew it was their time to win the game.
“We knew we needed to get it done,” she said. “It was the perfect moment to get it done.”