For a softball purist, the CIF-SS Division 2 Ford Championship game was an instant classic. Seven innings of regulation was not enough, as Los Alamitos and JSerra needed 10 innings before the Griffins finally ended the contest in dramatic fashion, with a 3-0 victory on Friday at Deanna Manning Stadium in Irvine.
In pitching and defensive duel, the game would eventually hinge on one small mistake by the JSerra defense in the top of the 10th inning. Los Alamitos junior Alivia Magallanes would lead off the inning with a grounder up the middle. After a pop up for the first out, senior shortstop Kalie Matsuno would follow with another single.
Magallanes read the hit well and quickly went from first to third. Despite her great jump, the JSerra outfield attempted to throw her out at third. The ball was overthrown and Magallanes scored as the ball rolled off the dugout and Matsuno took second.
With the first run of the game, the Griffins quickly added to the 1-0 score. Senior Cienna Kowaleski followed it with a moonshot home run that easily cleared the 220-foot centerfield fence and drove in two more runs for a 3-0 lead. Freshman pitcher Jaliane Brooks, who had gone toe-to-toe with JSerra junior pitcher Liliana Escobar, induced three straight ground ball outs to close out the game and send the Griffins into celebration.
The Griffins had rocky start to the season and Head Coach Rob Weil admitted that they were concerned that the team would struggle just to make the playoffs. But Weil said the players continued to work hard and overcome obstacles and things began to fall into place.
Above, Alivia Magallanes pops a ball down the right field line for a base hit. Below, senior first baseman Cienna Kowaleski is amped after a big defensive play to end a JSerra scoring threat.
“Working through adversity, we had some senior leadership and “J” (Jaliane Brooks) came into her own, that kid kept us in every single ballgame,” Weil said.
The adversity arrived quickly as JSerra threatened early with two singled sandwiched around a strikeout by Brooks. But the Lions loaded the based with just one out after a walk. But Brooks struck out the next batter and then got a pop up on a 3-2 count to escape the inning.
Los Alamitos was a little slower out of the gate getting just one walk in the first two innings. In the third they had a one out single and then a two-out single, but got out the threat by getting a pop up down the left field line.
The Lions had back-to-back singles with two outs in the bottom of the fourth but Brooks got a grounder to short to end the threat. In the top of the fifth, Magallanes led off with a double to left field, but Escobar struck out the next three batters to strand her at second.
The Griffins defense came up with two vital defensive plays in the sixth and seventh innings to maintain the 0-0 score. After a leadoff single, the Lions were attempting to bunt the runner to second base. With entire infield rotating, the bunt was at third baseman Audrey Hobbs. She fielded the ball and threw to shortstop Matsuno covering second, who fired to second baseman Morgan Fitzpatrick, who had rotated to cover first and keep the runner close to the bag, for a double play. Brooks then induced another pop up to end the inning.
“That was huge,” Weil said of the double play.
In the bottom of the tenth inning, the Griffins pulled off a game saving play, after a two-out single by freshman Ava Van Heerde. Senior Brooke Stephens followed with a line drove to the left-center field gap. Freshman outfielder Ryann Velazquez gathered the ball at the wall and threw to Matsuno at the cut off spot. Matsuno fired home to catcher Allysen Pitcox who was able to make the tag to end the inning and send the game to the eighth.
“I think our kids were out to prove something … they took advantage of an opportunity, and Cienna’s been clutch for us all year,” Weil said.
For Kowaleski, one of the team’s seniors, the victory capped a challenging season and was especially important to her and best friend Allysen Pitcox, whom she said she has been playing softball with since they were both seven.
“I feel so amazing, I mean going out with a bang, senior year, we all fought so much … and then to have a 10-inning game for us to win, it’s just so big and it means a lot to all of our girls,” Kowaleski said.