Randi Roelling’s perfect game leads Central Catholic softball to redemption against Ponderosa

For coach Sam Nichols and the Central Catholic softball team, everything was business as usual.

They arrived in Shingle Springs for the CIF Northern California Division III Regional Final against Ponderosa High School and ate their team meal in the parking lot. The team members were relaxed, engaging in conversations about everything but softball. Nichols discussed everything from household chores to pitcher Randi Roelling’s cooking experiences, buying time until they had to begin game-day preparations for a 4 p.m. first pitch.

There was no indication that Nichols, and everyone in attendance Saturday afternoon, would witness the best performance in the short history of the NorCal Championships.

Roelling saved her best outing for last.

In the final game of her high school career, the Cal-bound senior pitcher delivered a perfect game with nine strikeouts and hit a two-run home run to lead the No. 2 Raiders to a 7-0 win over the top-seeded Bruins to claim the program’s first NorCal championship.

“One of her favorite lines is, ‘Coach, don’t worry,’” Nichols said. “Sometimes I’ll say, ‘Hey, let’s do this, let’s get it going,’ and she’ll be like, ‘Coach, don’t worry, I got this.’ In big games and big moments is where she shows up. I have yet to have a situation since I’ve had the privilege of coaching her where she was afraid of the moment. I am so happy for her and the way she competed.”

Roelling recorded two or more strikeouts in two innings and struck out the side in the bottom of the sixth. Everything else was picked up by the Raiders’ defense. Ground balls, infield pop ups and fly balls to the outfield were all put away for outs. She sealed the final win in her high school career with a three-pitch strikeout.

21 up, 21 down.

Nichols knew he didn’t have to worry about the effort and competitive drive of his ace.

“I did have one parent ask me if I’m nervous … She goes, ‘You don’t seem worried.’ I was like ‘No, because it doesn’t matter what’s going on, Randi’s going to compete.’ Now, I had no idea she was gonna throw a perfect game. That is crazy. But I knew we would have a chance with her pitching.”

‘Turn the page’

Exactly one week prior to the Northern California final, Central Catholic players were in tears.

After being ranked the top seed in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III playoffs, the Raiders lost a 1-0 pitchers duel to the Bruins in the section championship at Cosumnes River College. The loss, Central Catholic’s second in a section title game in two seasons, ended a 13-game win streak. They used it as a time to reset.

“Right there in our meeting after the sections loss, (athletic director) Billy (Hylla) and our assistant coach Pete (Peterson) were saying just turn the page, now we have something bigger to play for,” Nichols said. “Our mindset switched before we even left the field to OK, that sucked. We didn’t want that, but we have something bigger that we’re playing for.”

Awarded the No. 2 seed in the Northern California Regional Championships, Central Catholic shut out Madera in the first round and put together its most complete offensive postseason performance in an 8-1 win over Pleasant Valley, setting up Saturday’s rematch.

“We played some of our best softball this last week in NorCals,” Nichols said. “They were determined. … We didn’t want that (losing) feeling again.”

With two outs in the top of the first inning, Jazmarie Roberts singled and later in the inning scored on an error. Catcher Madison Harrison singled and Roelling sent a two-run home run over the center field fence to jumpstart the Raiders’ offense. Emori Machado had a solo home run in the fourth, Mya Robles added a pair of hits and leadoff hitter Taryn Calderon doubled twice and drove in a team-high three runs. The team got production throughout the batting order, which Nichols says has been important all season.

“Our mindset of going out there and looking for pitches to hit and not helping the pitcher helped us out,” Nichols said. “We needed our entire lineup to be a threat and put pressure on the defense, and we’ve done that the last couple games.”

In addition to winning the first NorCal title in school history, this year’s Raiders team capped a two-year run that included back-to-back seasons with more than 25 wins, two trips to the Sac-Joaquin Section Championships and two seasons with NorCal Regional playoff wins. The Raiders’ 30 wins this year were more than any team in recent school history.

“I just love our team culture right now,” Nichols said. “Our girls put in the extra time to never be satisfied and strive to be better. … We had a great year and we’re looking forward to rebuilding this thing all over again next year.”