St. Francis continued its unbeaten run this season in a 13-3 home win over Valley Christian Wednesday, thanks to a complete pitching and offensive performance from one of its foundational program pieces in pitcher Shannon Keighran.
The senior reached varsity as a freshman and has been a part of multiple Central Coast Section and state championship teams as a pitcher, designated player and shortstop in her four years. St. Francis head coach Mike Oakland called her and Texas A&M pitching commit Kate Munnerlyn foundational for the Lancers’ program the last several years.
“She’s been a rock,” Oakland said of Keighran. “She’s the kind of kid that goes out there and you feel comfortable. You think you have a chance to win, and she’s been doing it for four years, and offensively, she’s done a lot of really good things. She had a really good day offensively.”
Keighran pitched six innings and gave up three runs on four hits with nine strikeouts and had three hits and RBIs for the Lancers (22-0) during Wednesday’s game. Although Valley Christian (14-11) was able to capitalize with two runs in the third and another in the fifth, Keighran got ahead in the count throughout the game and slowed down a scrappy team that was tied for second in the West Catholic Athletic League (WCAL) going into Wednesday’s game.
“It was a pretty good game,”Keighran said. They are a good team, so they capitalized on a few pitches, but overall, I think we played well. Our defense was good, and our at-bats were good.”
Keighran’s biggest offensive contribution came in the fifth inning with a bases-loaded double into the center field to put the game out of reach.
“I felt really aggressive that at-bat,” Keighran said. “I saw the ball really well. The ball looked really big at that time, and I saw it there and just roped it. It felt good off the bat, so I knew then just ran all the way.”
Keighran’s softball career will continue as part of the Boise State softball team next fall in the Mountain West Conference. The senior is part of a nine-member recruiting class for Boise State head coach Justin Shults, who described Keighran as a true competitor and a team-first athlete, according to the school’s website.
“When I got to Boise, it just felt like home,”Keighran said. “I walked on the field and was like, wow, it’s beautiful; the coaches had faith in me. Everything there is perfect. I went on other visits too, but nothing felt like Boise felt and just the community there and the support from everyone is exactly what I wanted.”
Seven players got RBIs for the Lancers. Maya Yumiba and Isabella Sandoval each had two. Savannah Hernandez led Valley Christian with two RBIs for the team. The Lancers scored four in the second inning before Valley Christian cut the lead in half 4-2 at the top of the third. However, St. Francis added three in the third, two in the fourth and three in the fifth to make it 12-3. The game ended when the Lancers scored in the bottom of the sixth to reach the 10-run lead threshold. Oakland praised Valley Christian for improving from last year and playing with energy and confidence, noting the new Warriors coaching staff was making its mark on the team.
“I don’t think the score indicates the way the game was going,” Oakland said. “I thought Valley played really well. They were scrappy. Their at-bats were really tough. They extended a lot of counts and made Shannon work.”
The Lancers played Valley Christian again Thursday and won 14-2 to sweep the series. St. Francis is 7-0 in league play with three games remaining and has a chance to head into the playoffs undefeated thanks to its pitching and defense strengths from its mix of younger and older kids. However, Oakland said the undefeated aspect does not matter compared to the team’s larger goals of success in the CCS and CIF NorCal state playoffs. The Lancers reached the final of the CCS and NorCal playoffs last year, losing to Hollister both times.
“The only thing that matters is you win the last game you play,” Oakland said. “We’ve gone undefeated before. It’s a nice little accomplishment, but if you don’t finish off the deal at the end, then it’s all for naught.”
