Softball playoffs: That’s a wrap; Notre Dame defeats Schurr to end area season

Notre Dame High’s Jessica Guerrero (#33) slides in safe at home in the third inning with Schurr High catcher Marissa Hernandez (#5) covering in their D-6 quarterfinal matchup at the Spartans’ Montebello, Calif. campus field May 25, 2017. (Photo by Leo Jarzomb, SGV Tribune/ SCNG)


By John Sherrard
MONTEBELLO >>
Schurr High School’s softball team scored 24 runs in its \first three CIF Southern Section playoff games, but the Spartans ran into a pitcher that ended the scoring spree and their season.
Notre Dame junior pitcher Alyssa Molina struck out 15 batters and the Sherman Oaks school won the Division 6 quarterfinal game 5-2 on Thursday.
The Spartans advanced deep into the playoffs for the first time in more than 13 years. Notre Dame will face St. Anthony on Tuesday in the semifinals. It is the first time the Knights have reached the round.
“The is the toughest (pitcher) since the (April 24) Montebello game,” Schurr coach Bobby Madrid said. “We just didn’t have the discipline and went after her riseball. We saw her riseball early and not until the fifth inning we were able break through with some hits.”
The Spartans (21-4-1), trailing 5-0, collected four hits in the final three innings, including a two-run home run by junior Valerie Alcala in the sixth inning. With no fence at Schurr, the speedy Alcala easily outran the relay back into the infield.
“It (home run) feels real good and helped build up my confidence,” said Alcala, who was the only Spartan to hit a home run in the four playoff games. “I think in the first couple of innings we were just too relaxed and we finally got a few hits later in the game.”
Schurr’s Kristina Chavez reached first on a single and got into scoring position at second on a passed ball in the first inning. Molina struck out the final batter and then fanned 10 of the next 15 Spartan batters through the fifth inning.
Two Notre Dame batters reached base against Schurr starting pitcher Sienna Perez in the first two innings. However, the Knights broke through in the third with three runs on three hits, which was highlighted by a two-run single by senior Jessica Fox, scoring Taylor Learnihan (2 for 4) and Julia Vargas (2 for 4). Molina singled and Fox scored when the ball was bobbled. The Knights scored twice more in the fourth.
The Spartans tried to rally in the seventh inning with two consecutive singles by Brianna Mendizabal and Victoria Lujan. But Notre Dame reliever Sydney Goldman struck out the final two batters to end the game.
“Coach (Jackie) Montanez left the program and we just had to keep it going,” Madrid said. “We’re going to keep this thing going and it’s a tribute to coach (Amber) Ackerman and coach Montanez.”

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Baseball second round; quarterfinal matchups

Tuesday’s second round

Division 1
J.W. North 10, No. 4 South Hills 8
No. 2 El Toro 3, Bishop Amat 2

Division 2
Glendora 3, Rio Mesa 2
Palm Desert 4, La Mirada 3

Division 3
Walnut 7, Sierra Canyon 3
Don Lugo 2, Santa Fe 1
No. 2 Righetti 3, Charter Oak 2

Division 4
Wilson 1, Santa Ynez 0 (9 innings)
No. 4 Nogales 10, Serra 8
Victor Valley 4, Sonora 3
No. 2 Maranatha 5, Alhambra 3

Division 5
No. 2 La Canada 6, Templeton 0

Division 6
No. 1 Rancho Christian 6, El Monte 4
Southlands Christian 5, Twentynine Palms 2
Malibu 3, No. 3 Pasadena Poly 0

Division 7
Gladstone 3, Joshua Springs 2

Quarterfinals: Friday

Division 2
Glendora (26-6) at St. John Bosco (26-7)

Division 3
El Segundo (27-6) at No. 4 Walnut (21-8)

Division 4
No. 1 Tahquitz (22-5) at Wilson (17-8)
No. 4 Capistrano Valley Christian (19-7) at Nogales (26-2)
Victor Valley (19-11) vs. No. 2 Maranatha (22-7) at Brookside Park

Division 5
No. 2 La Canada (23-5) at Campbell Hall (18-8-1)

Division 6
No. 1 Rancho Christian (24-3-1) at Southlands Christian (18-7)

Division 7
Gladstone (14-10) at No. 3 Arrowhead Christian (15-7-1)

Semifinals: Tuesday
Final: June 2

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Softball second round; quarterfinal matchups

Second round: Tuesday

Division 1
Pacifica (GG) 3, South Hills 0
Santiago (C) 3, La Habra 1

Division 2
St. Lucy’s 10, No. 1 Gahr 4
Charter Oak 8, Upland 7

Division 3
Los Altos 8, Ayala 0
Patriot 4, La Mirada 3

Division 4
Beaumont 13, Whittier 12
Montclair 12, Arroyo 1

Division 5
West Torrance 3, Alverno 1
South El Monte 5, Barstow 2

Division 6
No. 1 Sierra Canyon 10, Pasadena Poly 0 (5 innings)
Wilson 3, No. 4 Santa Paula 1
No. 3 St. Anthony 5, Whittier Christian 3
Schurr 4, Santiago (GG) 3
Culver City 7, Azusa 2

Division 7
No. 1 Village Christian 11, Ramona Convent 0
Carnegie (R) 3, Mayfield 0
Mountain View 10, Animo Leadership 0

Quarterfinals: Thursday
3 p.m. unless noted

Division 2
Villa Park (23-8) at St. Lucy’s (18-6)
Dana Hills (18-11) at Charter Oak (20-6)

Division 3
No. 3 Los Altos (23-6) at Ayala (24-9)

Division 5
Heritage Christian (22-4) at South El Monte (24-5)

Division 6
Harvard-Westlake (15-11) at Wilson (16-10-2)
No. 2 Notre Dame (16-9) at Schurr (21-3-1)

Division 7
No. 4 Mountain View (19-6) at Century (18-9-2)

Semifinals: Tuesday
Finals: June 2

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Boys Volleyball: La Serna takes aim at CIF State SoCal Regional title


CIF State Boys Volleyball
SoCal Regional playoffs

What does the La Serna High School boys volleyball team do for an encore?
The Lancers, fresh off winning the school’s first CIF Southern Section boys volleyball title by defeating Cerritos in four games for the Division 5 crown on Saturday at Cerritos College, now goes for a CIF State Southern California Regional crown when they host Hoover of San Diego in a Division III first-round game on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
“(The CIF-SS title) is the sweet dessert,” La Serna coach Monique Gayton said. “The state playoffs are the cherry on top. We’ll go out and see how good we are to compete in state.”
The Lancers (29-3), the No. 3 seed, are led by seniors Brian Marquez and Geoffrey Mike, who had 18 and 11 kills, respectively in a 25-21, 26-24, 20-25, 25-23 victory over the Dons on Saturday.
Hoover (24-7), which won the San Diego Section Division III title and is the No. 6 seed, is led by Michael Cozy, who averages 11 kills a match.
The winner faces the winner of No. 2 Sage Creek (28-11) of Carlsbad and No. 7 Kennedy (8-23) of Granada Hills in the semifinals on Thursday. The finals are scheduled for Saturday at 1 p.m. at Edison High in Huntington Beach.

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Baseball: La Mirada leads area terrific three into CIF-SS second round

Will La Mirada be celebrating like this today?


CIF-SS BASEBALL PLAYOFFS
Division 2
La Mirada (24-5) at Palm Desert (20-7) >>
The Matadores, who advanced to the quarterfinals last season, have a tough task against traditional power Palm Desert.
La Mirada, which beat Temescal Canyon (6-3) in the first round, is led by pitcher Eddie Salcido (10-2), shortstop Kevin Kendall (.411 batting average, 11 RBIs) and outfielder RJ Lan (.419, 22 RBIs).
Palm Desert beat Kaiser 3-2 in 14 innings in the first round.
Division 3

Isaiah Gonzales leads Santa Fe into D3 second-round game vs. No. 3 Don Lugo


Don Lugo (24-4-1) at Santa Fe (19-12) >> The Chiefs survived a first-round road trip to Torrance and get the No. 3 Conquistadores as their reward.
Santa Fe, which has won 14 out of its last 16 games, is led by seniors Isaiah Gonzalez (.397, 19 RBIs) and Alonso Guzman (.354, 15 RBIs).
Don Lugo routed Cajon 13-1 in the first round.
Division 4
Victor Valley (16-10-2) at Sonora (19-11) >>
The Raiders, who won six of their last nine regular-season games to take second in the Freeway League, are led by Isaac Ramirez (.357, 22 RBIs) and Dylan Villalobos (.322, 13 RBIs). Sonora edged Sierra Vista 2-1 in the first round.
Victor Valley advanced with a 7-3 win over Shadow Hills.

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