Softball Game Preview: Pinole Valley Spartans vs. Tamalpais Red Tailed Hawks

The Pinole Valley Spartans will venture away from home to face off against the Tamalpais Red Tailed Hawks at 5:00 p.m. on Friday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Pinole Valley has seven straight victories, Tamalpais has five straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.

Pinole Valley is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Wednesday. They never let Montgomery get on the board and left with a 5-0 win.

Mckenzie Ortega

Batters Struck Out

05/21/25 vs Montgomery	12
05/15/25 vs Salesian College Preparatory	8
05/13/25 vs Saint Mary's	9
05/08/25 @ Terra Linda	11
05/02/25 vs De Anza	11
+ 19 more games

Not much got past Mckenzie Ortega, who gave up just three hits and racked up 12 Ks to keep Montgomery off the board. Ortega has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't tossed less than six strikeouts any time she's pitched this season.

At the plate, Pinole Valley's victory was truly a team effort as four different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Julissa Sanchez, who went 1-for-2 with one stolen base and one run. Linda Lucas also deserves some recognition as she snagged her first stolen base of the season.

Meanwhile, Monday just wasn't the day for Tamalpais' offense. They fell 3-0 to Marin Catholic last Monday. The match marked the first time this season in which the Red Tailed Hawks were not able to get on the board.

Pinole Valley pushed their record up to 17-7 with the win, which was their sixth straight at home. The home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.7 runs on average over those games. As for Tamalpais, their loss dropped their record down to 12-9.