San Jose Sting

Keilani Ricketts showed from the start that it wouldn't be easy keeping Archbishop Mitty from its fourth consecutive section title Saturday.

The 6-foot-3 junior left-hander opened the Central Coast Section Division II softball final by striking out the side, then launched an RBI triple in the bottom of the first.

She continued to dominate throughout, leading the Monarchs to a 3-0 victory over Presentation at PAL Stadium.

"I knew if we started strong we would stay pumped up," said Ricketts, who also pitched a shutout in last year's final. "Whenever we get a good start in the first inning, we stay strong for the entire game."

Ricketts retired 21 of 22 batters - 13 on strikeouts. She also slugged two extra-base hits, including the RBI triple that scored Alaina Thomas in the first inning.

Sophomore catcher Sydney Frangieh's two-run double in the sixth accounted for Mitty's other runs.

In between, it was a pitchers' duel between Presentation junior Molly Medeiros, who transferred from Mitty after her freshman season, and Ricketts. After Ricketts' first-inning triple, Medeiros - bolstered by a strong infield defense - pitched to just one batter over the minimum until the sixth.

Meanwhile, Mitty's ace set down the first 12 Panthers, displaying an effective curveball and drop.

"She knew exactly what to do," said Presentation Coach Kevin Newman, whose club finished 29-6. "She's already tough to hit with a 60-plus mph fastball with movement, but she dominated with her other pitches and didn't even need her great rise."

Only Jo Jo Mendoza reached base against Ricketts, who then retired the next eight batters, including three strikeouts in the seventh.

"We had a young team who needed a lot of coaching this season," said Mitty Coach Sarah Thomas, whose squad finished 25-3-1. "I am so lucky to have talented and coachable kids."