SGV/Whittier Prep Sports Zone: Softball Preview, Division 1-4

We break down some of the top matchups in the first round.

Photo by Mark Duffel on Unsplash

DIVISION 1

At-Large, Thursday, May 2nd

Vista Murrieta at South Hills

Vista Murrieta Breakdown: The Mustangs finished third in the powerful Southwestern League; Murrieta Mesa won that league. There is some class that Vista Murrieta brings to the table. They also defeated Orange Lutheran (tournament top seed) earlier this year – on the strength of an outstanding performance from 2025 uncommitted player Laura Kersey (5IP, 1H, 3Ks). The Mustangs also have two terrific sophomores, Vanessa Hawks, Kynarra Vuki, and senior Madison Adams. This team narrowly lost to Garden Grove Pacifica, 2-1, in the season opener. This is not your run-of-the-mill At-Large Team.

South Hills: The pairings sheet has the Huskies with a 16-7 record, but on MaxPreps it is 22-9. Is this one of the more talented teams in the area? No question. But have they underachieved? No question. This team has unreal offensive talent with Stanford-bound slugger Joie Economides (.559), Cristine Lopez (.531), and Syracuse-signee Kayla Sigala. And they have one of the more talented underclass pitchers in the east SGV in Hailey Marez (0.69). When you look for quality wins, the only ones were a two-game series early in the season against Cal High (and even that comes with a caution tag as they lost them several weeks ago). They have losses to Millikan (non-seeded in D-2) and Valencia (#2 seed in D2). The Huskies aren’t firing on all cylinders entering the playoffs.

CRYSTAL BALL: The winner of this game travels to Garden Grove next week to square off against Garden Grove Pacifica. At the beginning of the season, that would have had all the makings of a tremendous matchup. However, Vista Murietta should be considered the favorite and on straight handicapping, should take of business. However, Ralph Navarro is a terrific coach and knows how to get a team ready for a big game. I’m calling VM the winner; 2-1.

(Winner of Esperanza vs. JSerra) at La Mirada (19-4-2) on Tuesday, May 7th.

At-Large Breakdown: In Dan Albano’s most recent OC Softball Rankings, he has Esperanza at #7 and JSerra at #15 (which is a considerable gap). Any talk of Esperanza must start with Taylor Shumaker, who has collected 18 home runs on the season – no wonder why she is going to the University of Florida. Just on that alone, you have to make Esperanza the favorite to win the game.

La Mirada: Esperanza has Shumaker, La Mirada has Monserrat Reyes-Cardenas. One of the elite pitchers in Southern California, Reyes-Cardenas (Oregon commit) brings a lot of flair to the circle, which is what you need if you are going to compete in the section’s most competitive division. She had 9 Ks in her win earlier this week against Mayfair and let’s not forget about Angelina Ratzlaff, who had the key hit against Gahr last week in a 2-1 win. La Mirada also has the best catcher in the area in Notre Dame-bound Rebecca Eckart (who hit a three-run home run against Mayfair).

CRYSTAL BALL: Esperanza vs. La Mirada would be an epic matchup – as we would be there for that matchup next week. The winner gets Norco in the quarterfinals, but let’s not overlook what, on the surface, would be the Game of the Year in the area and a game worth having to pay to watch.

Projected Finals matchup: Orange Lutheran vs. Garden Grove Pacifica

DIVISION 2

OUTLOOK: The top half of the bracket is top-heavy with some of the best teams in the area. They include St. Paul (which spent much of the year in our top 10), Ayala (which is ranked fifth in our rankings), and Temple City (ranked third). Throw in out-of-area powerhouses like Beaumont (ranked fifth in Eric-Paul Johnson’s most recent Softball rankings), El Modena (ranked 8th in OC), Temescal Canyon (another solid IE team), Mater Dei (ranked 17th in the OC), Tesoro (13th in OC), Sunny Hills (24th in OC) and Millikan (ranked 3rd in John Davis’ current softball rankings for the LB Press-Telegram) and you can understand why you can make a compelling argument that whoever comes out of this bracket and makes it to the final should be the favorite to win it all.

For those Cal High fans, consider it a break that you were not in the top half of the bracket.

St. Paul at Beaumont

St. Paul: The Swordsmen have been playing this year without one of its top players in Daina Munoz, who was injured before the season started. It’s been an up-and-down season for Charles Gandara and his crew as they finished third in the Del Rey League to Bishop Amat. Hannah Moreno, an Oregon State signee, has been swinging the hot bat throughout the year and Abbey Duarte (.416) has been productive. The weak spot has been the pitching this year and that could be a problem in Thursday’s opening-round game.

Beaumont: Want to know why this team is fifth in the IE? Let’s start with Cambria Salmon, a junior who has committed to the University of Texas. She not only brings a 0.95 ERA into the game, but she also leads the team in hitting with a .471 average. Then there is 2025 elite prospect Keali-Huss-Cochran, who is batting .393 and has hit several big home runs this year. Do you want me to go further?

Sunny Hills at Ayala

Ayala: The Bulldogs come in as one of the teams to beat after a successful Palomares League campaign as league champions. Any talk of the Bulldogs has to start with Southern Utah Commit McKenzy Becerra, who leads the team with a .500 batting average. If that’s not enough, Marisa Dominguez, a Cal State Dominguez Hills commit, had a hefty .493 average, and Ryanna Alano, who is third in the team in hitting with a .455 batting average, is a University of Riverside signee. Throw in power-hitting Taelor Walker (.425, 3 home runs), a Loyola Marymount commit, and this becomes one of the more impressive batting lineups in the division. The pitching is next-level stuff with sophomore Allie Lukaszewicsz (11-2, 2.07), a University of Pittsburgh commit, who has struck out 74 Ks. Let’s make this team the favorite in this matchup.

Sunny Hills: The Lancers were ranked 24th in the latest OC rankings. Second-place finishers in the rugged Freeway League, no one could match up with Fullerton, they did beat California earlier this season and lost to Whitter Christian in their season opener. The late-season loss to Sonora does catch the eye. The top players include Alexis Perez and Olivia Pedraza.

Temescal Canyon at Temple City

Temple City: If you are a regular reader, you know about Kassandra Gewecke (Ohio State Commit) and her pitching exploits. She has looked even better this year with her fastball clocked between 61-63 MPH in her start that we caught several weeks ago against South Pasadena. Then there is Samantha Womack, a University of San Diego signee, who has swung the bat very well and should be back in her regular spot behind the plate. She is part of a lineup at the top that is very formidable with leadoff hitter Sheridan Gonzalez and Mya Arias-Gonzalez. The Rams have ramshackle their way through the Rio Hondo League, but the competition level is ratcheted up several notches with Temescal Canyon coming into town.

Temescal Canyon: TC is not exactly a softy coming into town. The Titans are led by Mississippi State commit Xiane Romero (.412 batting average). They also have one of the better 2025 players in Natalie Castro (who plays for the Corona Angels club program) and Jaeleigh Graff will most likely get the call. This is a very tough matchup for the Rams.

One last note on the upper bracket: When you have players going to Boise State, Oregon State, Pittsburgh, UC Riverside, Southern Utah, Ohio State, University of San Diego, and Mississippi State, how brutal is this bracket? Let’s call it the Game of Thrones bracket.  

Cypress at Bonita

Bonita: A tip of the cap has to go out to Darren Baumunk for another outstanding job in getting the Bearcats to another 20-win season. And he has done with an exciting freshman in Koa Puppe, who leads the team in batting with a .551 average. Another freshman is Ryan Torres, who has produced a hefty .469 average. It doesn’t hurt to have a pitcher in Kaitlyn Maaske (14-3, 2.04, 95 Ks) who will pitch next year at Hope International. This solid team is built for the future with some quality players. They enter the postseason having won 5 out of their 6 games.

Cypress: Dan Albano of the Orange County Register ranked Cypress 19th in the most recent area softball rankings. The Centurions finished in second place in the Empire League standings, behind mega-talented Garden Grove Pacifica. Cypress has their talented freshman in Aubrey Lopez who leads the team with a .489 batting average and a power hitter in Taylor Monteleone (.434 BA, 8 HR). Sophomore Kylie Santander and Delaney Faus have a nice one-two combination in the circle. We’ll make Cypress the favorite to win here.

Mission Viejo at Whittier Christian (Best first-round matchup)

Whittier Christian: Life after Brooklyn Carreon has been just fine for the Olympic League champs. This year has been a bit of a funky one for the Heralds. The losses were to teams such as St. Paul, La Serna, and Sonora, which has us scratching our heads. The reason for it is that the WC is a very talented team. Aleena Garcia, a UCLA signee, has carried the load with a mind-boggling .610 batting average (12 home runs), and senior catcher Jailyn Paderez is second in team hitting with .516. Freshman pitcher Sofia Gonzalez appears ready to continue the tradition of top-notch pitchers with a 1.93 ERA. The Heralds have won six in a row and have feasted on some horrific competition in the Olympic League. Now comes a severe class test against Mission Viejo.

Mission Viejo: The Diablos are ranked 10th in Dan Albano’s most recent softball rankings. The Diablos have a rock-solid resume, which includes a win over Esperanza at the Carew Classic. Reece Uehara, a Princeton commit, is not only an offensive threat, but she is a talented pitcher. Other players that will have to be dealt with offensively are Ava Tabangcura, who will be attending Quinnipiac University, Sofia Elliot, who is committed to the University of Iowa, and Mars Ruvalcaba, who played a key role in their win over Aliso Niguel. Doesn’t take a genius to make this team the heavy favorite to move on.

La Serna at Ramona

La Serna: It has not been the season that Lancer fans had hoped for. Injuries have played a major reason why this team is not entering the full season with a full head of steam. Among the players that are done for the season include pitcher Olivia Torres (Harvard commit) and Kenzi Young (Bethal College commit). La Serna does have one of the area’s most talented freshman pitchers in Candice Puig, a pitcher that we have seen twice that has improved her velocity to a top speed of 63 MPH. She has a bright future. The Lancers still have Middle Tennessee St. commit Sabria Ritto, 2026 elite prospect Aubrie Baruch, and power-hitting Elissa Guerrero (Long Beach St. commit). It’s not like this team is not talented, it’s just that they have not put it together. La Serna comes in as the underdog, but we think they have a win in them and give them the nod in an interesting matchup.

Ramona: In the softball capital of Southern California, which is the Inland Empire, the bad news is that Ramona is the champion of the River Valley League. The good news is that this team is nowhere to be found in Eric Paul Johnson’s softball rankings for the Press-Enterprise. So, it’s not like we are dealing with a juggernaut. Julia Gomez has been prolific at the plate with a .619 batting average and is a quality sophomore hurler in Victoria Recendez.

CRYSTAL BALL: California has a bye and will play next week. This has us a bit concerned because not playing for a week for a red-hot team offensively is not what the doctor ordered. There shouldn’t be any issues with Rosary Academy. However, the biggest challenge could be Mission Viejo and/or Valencia/Valencia. Two teams will test the Condors. The MV game is very important because the winner not only moves to the semifinals but also earns a berth in the state tournament. 

D-2 finals predicted matchup: California vs. Ayala.

DIVISION 3

Area teams: Northview (15-6), La Canada (14-9), Santa Fe (17-9), Los Altos (15-8-1), Bishop Amat (15-13), Arcadia (11-8), Charter Oak (16-2-1), Sonora (12-10)

UPPER BRACKET THOUGHTS: Sonora is the only area team from this division that has to play in a Wild-Card game on Tuesday. They will take on Long Beach Poly, which will be a challenge. But anytime you have Baylee Hunnicutt (Eastern Kentucky commit) and her 63 MPH fastball, you have a serious chance of winning. They should win and take on fourth-seeded Etiwanda in the first round. We don’t fancy the chances of Northview, La Canada, and/or Sonora. Northview might have a chance to get past the first round, but I question the quality of the Valle Vista. Even if they get past Arlington, they’ll have to face top-seeded West Torrance, the top-ranked team in the Daily Breeze.

LOWER DIVISION THOUGHTS: This is where the fun begins. Santa Fe is a team that could cause a lot of trouble for opponents. They boast two legitimate D-1 college players in Dahlila Hall (Chico State) and Miranda Gonzales (Long Beach St.). Ava Galvan is one of the fastest pitchers in the area (we clocked her between 60-62 MPH on her fastball against Cal) and the Del Rio League has set up this team for a deep playoff run. If they play the perfect game against Aquinas, they can make the finals. Los Altos shocked the valley in winning the Hacienda League and Giselle Mejia has been sensational all year. Bishop Amat won the Del Rey League and took two out of three from their rivals in St. Paul last week. It’s been a strange year for the Lancers as they lost to Temple City and South Hills but defeated Northview. This is a rematch of the Feb. 10th game that saw Los Altos win 3-1 with Mejia hitting a two-run home run in the first inning. They do have one of the more talented players in the area in University of San Diego signee Sophia Pinedo. Arcadia won the Pacific League on the strength of Sophia Herrera’s pitching arm and the offensive prowess of sophomores Peyton Fox and Zabrina Perez. Charter Oak is razor sharp but so is Lakewood.

Projected Finals Matchup: West Torrance vs. Aquinas

Division 4

Area Teams: Covina (11-10-1), Monrovia (10-7), Schurr (25-2), Flintridge Sacred Heart (14-10), Diamond Bar (12-9), San Dimas (13-13)

CRYSTAL BALL: Ah yes, this is where we find the Schurr Spartans and Cal State Dominguez Hills commit Emma Mendizabal. After slugging it out with Keppel for the Almont League title, the Spartans are seeded fourth and (according to coach Bobby Madrid) they are fresh and ready to go. This is key because, with an arm like Mendizabal (who ranges between 59-61 with her FB) that is fresh and ready to roll, this team is poised for a major run in the playoffs. The best part of the upper bracket for Spartan fans is that teams in the IE in that part of the bracket are not found anywhere in Eric Paul Johnson’s rankings. So, it seems like this is where we are on a crash course for an Oxnard vs. Schurr semifinal and a projected pitching matchup between Oxnard’s Baylany Magana and Mendizabal. It should be a beauty!

Projected Finals Matchup: Schurr vs. Crescenta Valley