Prep softball: Drummer dominant as San Rafael rolls into semifinals

Thomara Drummer continues to dazzle during the North Coast Section Division III softball tournament, backing up the perfect game she threw on Wednesday with a no-hitter in San Rafael’s 3-0 win over Sonoma Valley on Friday.

The 5-foot-9 junior was working on a perfect game until the top of the fifth inning when the Dragons’ only base runner reached on a throwing error after a bunt. Drummer finished with 16 strikeouts to secure her remarkable sixth no-hitter of the season.

“We’re going to ride with her,” said San Rafael coach Thomas Drummer of his daughter.

Top-seeded San Rafael (22-3) hosts No. 13 John F. Kennedy of Fremont in the semifinals at 5 p.m. on Tuesday. Kennedy upset Maria Carrillo 3-2.

No. 8 Sonoma Valley (12-12) had eliminated the Bulldogs in the NCS first round last year and San Rafael was ready for the challenge in the playoff rematch.

“We were definitely more hyped this game — second round of NCS,” said Drummer, the pitcher. “We won NCS my freshman year and we’re trying to get it again.”

Drummer struck out all six batters she faced in the first two innings before the game was delayed for 30 minutes due to an injury to Sonoma Valley shortstop Katherine Kiser, who was carried off the field on a stretcher and taken to the hospital via an ambulance.

With no score in the game, San Rafael’s Cassidy Kaplan popped up the ball behind second base. The Dragons’ shortstop and center fielder Kayla Amormino collided trying to make the play and both went down. Kiser reportedly suffered a broken leg, forcing a total shuffle of the Sonoma Valley lineup.

After the long delay, the Bulldogs parlayed Kaplan’s hit, a hit batter and three straight bunts for a 2-0 lead. Kaplan scored on a close play at home following an RBI bunt by Jaela Brown. Gabby Rodriguez, who reached when she was hit by a pitch, made it 2-0 when she scored on a bunt by Luca Fondnazio.

“These girls are doing it exactly how we practice it,” said coach Drummer. “We’ve been working on it all season for this particular game. This kind of game — where they play good defense. Everybody did exactly what I asked of them.”

In the third inning, San Rafael all-MCAL shortstop Sophia Everett crushed a homer well beyond the fencing in right-center field to push the Bulldogs’ lead to 3-0. It was her 12th homer of the year to lead all NCS players in the top three divisions. She was intentionally walked in the fifth, drawing boos from the Bulldogs’ dugout.

Drummer, who did not give up a walk for the second straight NCS game and only allowed the one base runner in the fifth, attributes her success this season to an improved rise ball that she can locate wherever she pleases. She’s also got her security blanket in senior catcher Angel Amesa, who has been catching her for 10 years.

“She’s my best friend,” Drummer said of Amesa. “She knows exactly where I pitch everything. Our bond helps a lot. The work she puts in — I’m really proud of her. She catches me at every single one of my pitching lessons. She’s always there.”