The opening round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division V playoffs was Monday, May 14 – and the defending Section champion Escalon Lady Cougars opened with a shutout win at home.

Going in as the top seed in Division V, Escalon hosted number eight seed Waterford in an afternoon game on Monday and got a 4-0 victory.

“Chardae Hoskins was in the circle, she threw a no-hitter,” said head coach Art Brooks. “She struck out 12 and walked three.”

The host Lady Cougars scored one run in the second, one in the third and two in the fourth on the way to the win.

In the second inning, Lexy Underwood reached on an error and Hailie Webster doubled to drive her in. In the third, Morgan Reider reached on a base hit and then Hannah Boyd hit into a fielder’s choice, later coming around to score. Two runs in the fourth capped the scoring for Escalon.

“Hailie Webster walked, Sage Davis singled, Malia Babasa had an RBI ground out and Chardae had an RBI single,” Brooks explained.

Offensively, Bella Strach went 2-for-3, Davis was 2-for-3 and Molly Brown was 1-for-3. Reider was 1-for-3, Webster was 1-for-1 with an RBI double and Hoskins was 1-for-3 with an RBI.

Next up, the Lady Cougars will face off against Trans-Valley League rival Hilmar, which won its playoff opener on Monday as well. Hilmar, the number five seed, topped number four seed Amador, winning on the road by a 6-5 decision.

The second round game pitting the two TVL teams against each other is scheduled for the Arnaiz Softball Complex in Stockton with a 5 p.m. start on Wednesday, May 16.