La Serna wins wild Del Rio League softball race, beats Santa Fe, 6-2

The road may have been long and winding, but the La Serna softball team repeated as Del Rio League champions, beating Santa Fe, 6-2, on Thursday.
There was the possibility – if the Chiefs had won – of a four-way tie. La Serna eneded those chances by rallying from two runs down to beat Santa Fe.
Here is Red Williams’ story:

By Red Williams, Correspondent
WHITTIER — An early two-run deficit never dampened the poise and confidence of La Serna High School’s softball team. They wouldn’t let it.
The Lancers responded with six unanswered runs to defeat visiting Santa Fe, 6-2, and claim outright the Del Rio League championship. It’s their second straight title.
“I was not worried when we got behind 2-0,” said Ginger Larsin, coach of La Serna. “I just knew they’d come through.”
Indeed they did. Trailing 2-0 after three innings, the Lancers (15-9, 8-2) collected nine hits in the next three frames, scoring a pair of runs in each of them.
“They played like they had everything to win,” said Randi Berg, coach of Santa Fe’s Chiefs (13-10, 6-4). “And we played like we had everything to lose. We stopped making the routine plays and tried to force something that wasn’t there.”

The Chiefs drew first blood in the contest in the third inning. After one out, Cara Hylland singled to left and came home to score when lead-off batter Arianna Hernandez blasted a triple in the left-center gap. One out later, Amanda Flores doubled down the leftfield line, driving in Hernandez. The ball barely eluded La Serna third-baseman Red Pichardo. The Chiefs managed just two more hits off La Serna hurler Nikki Oviedo (6-2) the rest of the game.
The Lancers tied it in the fourth. With one out, A.J. Carrasco beat out a bunt single. She was followed with a single to left by Molly Bourne, and both scampered home when Jackie Valdez drilled a deep drive over the centerfielder’s head for a triple.
And La Serna moved ahead for good in the fifth, 4-2. After one out, Danielle Garcielita also earned a bunt single, and Oviedo coaxed a walk off Santa Fe right-hander Alyssa Segobia (7-6-1), the only one in the game.
Dana De La Torre followed with a single to right, and Garcielita came in to score when the ball was bobbled for an error. Oviedo was plated on a fielder’s choice by Valdez. The Lancers left the bases loaded.
A pair of insurance runs came across the plate in the sixth: Jordan Sargent, pinch-runner for Pichardo, came in on a pinch-hit triple by Jamie Wren. She added the sixth run when the Chiefs’ catcher threw the ball into center on an attempted steal.
“Everything came together for us this game,” Larsin said. “Pitching, hitting and defense. Every player was in the game with their hearts.”
Oviedo, a junior righty, threw a complete game, scattering six hits, no walks and striking out three. The Lancers had a 10-hit attack. De La Torre was three for four and Carrasco and Bourne each garnered two hits. And the Lancers played without an error in the game. Hernandez had a pair of hits for the Chiefs.

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