The first CIF Northern California Regional Playoff run for the Escalon softball team seemed to be over with its 14-5 loss to West Valley on Thursday afternoon.<\/p>\n
The No. 5 Cougars beat No. 4 Alhambra in the first round, capturing the first ever NorCal win in program history, then traveled to Cottonwood to take on the Division IV No. 1 seed West Valley.<\/p>\n
Escalon found out Friday morning, however, that the state’s governing body for high school athletics ruled that West Valley had to forfeit the game for playing an ineligible player.<\/p>\n
A player from the Eagles played with her travel team during the playoffs, which is against CIF rules.<\/p>\n
John Devine of the Monterey Herald was the first to report this news.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, the Cougars scored twice in the first and second innings each and took a 4-3 lead into the bottom of the third before West Valley took the lead and never gave it up.<\/p>\n
When Escalon got the news, some players had to drive back into town. School is done for the year and a handful of softball players were headed down to Southern California to play in a travel tournament this weekend.<\/p>\n
Instead, they get one more chance to wear the school colors. They held one final practice Friday at noon.<\/p>\n
Escalon travels to Salinas to take on Alisal on Saturday at 1 p.m. The Trojans have a 22-5 overall record and finished first in the PCAL – Mission League standings (13-2). In the postseason, they were a No. 7-seed in the Central Coast Section Division I playoffs and upset their way to a section title. In the NorCal bracket, the Trojans beat Newark Memorial 12-0 in the first round and are coming off a 5-4, 11-inning win over Live Oak in the regional semifinals.<\/p>\n
Escalon athletic director Andrew Beam said that at 9 p.m. Thursday, he was alerted by someone not associated with Escalon’s softball program about the possibility of an ineligible player.<\/p>\n
The person who alerted Beam was attending a middle school travel ball event for a different organization with their daughter. During a conversation, the topic of a West Valley player who recently played with her travel team came up.<\/p>\n
Beam said he sent an email to the CIF on Thursday night, asking for clarification and guidance on how to proceed with the information he was given.<\/p>\n
The CIF called Friday morning, saying the Cougars would be playing in Saturday’s game, traveling to Salinas to take on the No. 2 team in the division.<\/p>\n
“It just came out of nowhere,” Beam said.<\/p>\n