SAN JOSE — Mitty pitcher Keilani Ricketts looked absolutely untouchable. The 6-foot-2 junior southpaw retired the first 29 Notre Dame batters she faced Thursday, 20 on strikes.

It was 0-0 in the 10th inning when Kelly McDonald stepped to the plate.

McDonald, the daughter of Notre Dame coach Ray McDonald and No.3-batting second baseman, fouled off the first pitch. She hit the second one, an up-and-in riser, on a screaming line up the left-center alley.

Once Mitty center fielder Alaina Thomas ran down the ball and threw it back toward the infield, McDonald had not only broken up the perfect game, she had circled the bases for a home run to put the Tigers on top.

But that was no denouement. The drama on this afternoon had not concluded.

McDonald's blast had given Notre Dame a 2-0 lead in the top of the 10th of the West Catholic Athletic League championship game at Mitty. (The international tiebreaker rule had gone into effect that inning, so Notre Dame had come to bat in the top of the 10th with a runner, Kerry Peterson, on second).

Ricketts shook off the shock of the home run and struck out the next batter, her 21st of the game, and the game went to the bottom of the 10th.

Emma Holden was pitching for Notre Dame (18-8) with a runner on second. She induced a groundout to second, with the runner taking third, but then Miyuki Navarette beat out a grounder to second.

Mitty had cut the deficit to 2-1 and had a runner on first with one

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out.

Stephanie Ricketts, Keilani's older sister, hit a sharp grounder to second that McDonald was able to field and throw to first for the out, with Navarette taking second. But with a runner in scoring position, Holden struck out the potential go-ahead run, looking, to end the game.

Notre Dame had lost to Mitty (21-3-1) twice during the regular season. The third time was the charm.

"Just amazing," Holden said. "And to do it on their turf. They've celebrated on our turf a million times. We finally showed them we can play."

Holden had matched zeros with Ricketts, doing it with finesse in contrast to the power of Ricketts.

"She's a big girl," Holden said. "I knew I was not going to blow it by everyone. I tried to get popups and grounders. I knew that if I got them to hit the ball that my defense would make outs."

Holden allowed six hits, all singles, walked none and struck out nine.

Notre Dame's seniors were 1-10 against Mitty before Thursday.

"It feels so good," Kelly McDonald said. "This was our last shot to play Mitty and beat them. We're probably not going to be in the same division (in CCS)."

"I can't grasp it," Holden said. "I really can't. We've been imagining this game for so long. Of course I've always wanted to believe we could do it, and I (knew) we can do it. But now that we've done it, I know I'll always remember the feeling I had after this game."

She wasn't alone.

"This is the greatest day of Notre Dame softball history," Ray McDonald said.