Offering evidence to the old sports adage “it doesn’t matter where you start, it only matters where you finish,” San Marino High School’s upstart varsity softball team continued its surprising march in the CIF Division 6 playoffs on Tuesday afternoon with a 5-0 victory over Sierra Vista to advance to Thursday’s quarterfinal contest at Woodcrest Christian.
In three postseason games, the Lady Titans have outscored their opponents by a combined 40-1, defeating Saddleback Valley Christian by a score of 22-0 in a wild card contest and topping United Christian Academy 13-1 last Thursday in a first round match-up.
The Lady Titans finished third in the Rio Hondo League but are the last team standing in the playoffs, with both La Cañada—the champs—and runner-up Temple City having both been eliminated.
The relatively late success could be attributed to the Lady Titans’ youth. The majority of starters are freshmen or sophomores. Sierra DuNah, a senior first baseman who will be continuing her softball career at Sterling University in Kansas, leads the team in hits, RBIs and doubles, but most of the other big guns can be slid into the “beginner” category. Freshman pitcher Claire Streeter has struck out 18 batters in the first three playoff games, but faced only six batters (and fanned them all) in the win over Saddleback. Freshman outfielder Kate Brunner is batting .429 with three homers, freshman catcher Macy Mooney has a .311 mark with 11 RBIs while sophomores Jessica VanFossan (.368), magnet-gloved Charis Chung (.390), and slap-hitting Kinu Takasugi (.436) are setting the table at an impressive rate. A relative veteran, junior Justene Huang (.474) is adept at the plate also backs up Streeter on the mound. Huang can also play just about every position on the field.
Sophomores Erin Hill (.333) and Kira Glasse (.275) are proven offensive threats and Bella Escobar is a vacuum cleaner at second base. Baseball and softball teams are often judged by their ability “in the middle,” and with catcher Mooney, pitcher Streeter, the double-play combination of Takasugi and Escobar and highlight-reel centerfielder Chung, it’s difficult to imagine anything better. And that’s three sophomortes and two freshmen, to boot.
“I keep telling the parents, this team is doing phenomenal,” said head Coach Stephanie Hernandez. “I don’t think they know there is an end to this, which I absolutely love. The defense is tight, they just keep playing and keep fighting, and I love that.”
When asked to single out a few players for exceptional contributions to the team, Hernandez smartly refused to take the bait.
“I give them all the same amount of credit,” she said. “Every single one of them. They each bring something to the table and they mesh together. The girls who don’t happen to be on the field at the time are all cheering hard and we can see that has had a very positive effect on the team. These girls get along so well and they have a lot of fun.”
If the Lady Titans can get by Woodcrest Christian on Thursday, the squad will most likely host a quarterfinal contest on Tuesday, May 14 against the winner of Garden Griove Santiago and Garey.
After that? Well, things could get very interesting. Still lurking on the other side of the bracket is a team familiar to all rostered by some very familiar faces: Pasadena Polytechnic, with five girls from San Marino. With two more wins apiece, the Lady Titans and Panthers would square off for the CIF Division 6 championship, though the fate and time are currently listed as TBA.
Is San Marino the newest softball hotbed? Time will tell.
