The game that wouldn't end finally did, but not the way the St. Francis High softball team wanted it to.
The Lancers wound up losing 2-1 to Mitty in a Central Coast Section Division II semifinal game that went 12 innings and spanned two days.
The contest was tied at 1 after 10 innings May 26 and had to be suspended because of an 11 p.m. curfew at San Jose's PAL Stadium. The teams picked up the action two days later, and the third-seeded Monarchs scored in the top of the 12th to win it.
The final inning started well for second-seeded St. Francis, as ace Cory Montalbano (23-7) struck out lead-off batter Jerece Guglielmo. But Montalbano, who was battling bronchitis, then gave up back-to-back hits to Johnson (double) and Melissa Kelly (single). Jamie Forman-Lau followed with a sacrifice fly that scored Johnson and ultimately won the game for No. 3 Mitty.
"It was a tough way to lose," St. Francis coach Barry Ivers said, "but believe me, we had our chances to win."
The Lancers had runners in scoring position in the bottom of the 11th and 12th.
In the 11th, Lindsay Meek tripled with one out. But Mitty pitcher Kelly Johnson retired the next two batters, Mary Dunn and Michelle Gardner, to end the threat.
Lynsey Arioto opened the Lancers' half of the 12th with a single. Tess Nesbitt then struck out, but Lauren Wong and Sarah Collins followed with singles that moved Arioto to third base.
Arioto would get no further. The next batter, Michelle Baca, fouled off a slew of pitches before striking out and then Annie Kimball grounded out to end the game.
"We out-hit them 13-10," Ivers said, "but they just got them at the right time. It was kind of a bummer, but that's the way it goes sometimes."
The Lancers (25-7) had four players with at least two hits: Wong (4), Arioto (3), Gardner (2) and Nesbitt (2).
Montalbano struck out eight batters and earned high praise from her coach.
"She did a great job for us," Ivers said. "She was sick, but she stuck with it."