SLO County softball team wins CIF title, plus other baseball, softball playoff results
Nipomo High’s softball team traveled to Fresno State on Saturday with high hopes to finish a thrilling CIF-Central Section playoff run with a title.
With one out to go against Arvin High to win the Division 6 crown, the Titans anticipated the final out with excitement, their coach said.
“It was definitely fun,” said Nipomo Coach Robert Oliver by phone. “I had a whole group of girls breathing down my neck in the dugout and when the final popup was caught, it was a pretty cool moment to see them run out to the field to mob (pitcher Key-annah Pu’a).”
The Titans dominated, winning 16-3 against their opponent from Kern County (Arvin is located near Bakersfield), completing their fourth straight playoff win after a 5-0 semifinal victory over Orcutt Academy, to earn the school’s first CIF title.
The Titans (11-11-1) relied on the power of their star senior pitcher, a 6-foot-2 right-hander, who signed a letter of intent to play softball at University of Hawai’i this spring. Pu’a struck out 13 batters in a complete game, seven-inning outing.
At the plate, Nipomo’s Melania Ruelas had a triple that cleared the bases to tally three runs batted in with one swing. Freshman Vivianne Goss went 2-for-4 with a RBI, with two doubles, and Ella Chew was 3-for-4 with three RBI. Tania Conde had three RBI and a double.
“Melania crushed the ball and got thrown out between third and home,” Oliver said. “That was huge. The bottom of our lineup also came up really big today, which was really important for us. We needed everyone to make plays and they did.”
Oliver said that Pu’a, the team’s stalwart at the pitching circle, lost her father last year and started the season midway through after recovering from an ACL knee surgery.
“She has had a tough year or so and I’m so happy for her,” Oliver said. “She’s a great kid.”
Oliver said that Pu’a is in top form after gradually getting stronger and stronger throwing the ball this season.
“Pitching is key in this sport and she has come into form,” Oliver said.
The Titans expect to play in state CIF playoff competition, but haven’t heard yet if they’ve been selected and who they play, Oliver said.
Here were the other SLO County baseball and softball teams that had playoff wins:
Arroyo Grande baseball
Arroyo Grande (21-11) baseball reached the semifinals of CIF-CS Division 2 playoffs, losing 6-3 to Clovis East after beating Nipomo 12-1 and then Clovis 6-1. Josiah Cabreros had a three-run home run in the opener and senior Niko Ikenoyama went 4-for-4 with two RBIs in the win over Clovis.
Arroyo Grande softball
The Eagles (16-11-1) won a first round game 7-2 against Tulare Western before falling to Kingsburg 4-2 in the second round.
Atascadero baseball
The Greyhounds (8-19-1) beat Arvin in the first round of Division 4 baseball 6-4 before falling 8-7 to Liberty of Madera.
Atascadero’s Skyler Silva was 3-for-4 at the plate and Curran Hoxie went 2-for-4 with a RBI and run scored in the loss to Liberty.
Mission Prep softball
The Royals (20-9) was the runner-up in CIF-CS Division 4, winning 12-3 over Hanford West, 5-2 over Sierra Pacific, and 6-5 over Pioneer Valley before losing 10-0 to Orange Cove of Fresno County.
The Royals’ Savannah Ruelas went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and a double in the opener versus Hanford West; Roxanne Guerra struck out 11 batters in a seven-inning complete game pitching.
Brooklyn Neenan hit a 2-out solo walk-off home run in bottom of the 7th in CIF Central Section Championship game over rival Pioneer Valley to propel the Royals into the final with the 6-5 nail-biting win.
Mission Prep baseball
The Royals (12-16) won 7-5 over Hanford West in the first round of Division 4 playoffs before falling 11-1 to Madera South.
Kyle Hiltbrand went 2-for-4 with two RBI and Michael Sison was 2-for-4 with four RBI and a double in the playoff win for Mission Prep.
Morro Bay baseball
After beating El Diamante 5-1 in the first round, behind a seven-inning pitching performance from Morgan Codron (seven strikeouts), who also had a hit and three RBI
The Pirates (19-11) lost 7-3 to Hanford in the second round of CIF-CS Division 3 playoffs.
Morro Bay’s Myles Wilson had two hits and scored two runs in the winning opener.
Morro Bay softball
The Pirates (9-12-1) lost 2-1 to Orange Cove in the third round of Division 4 softball playoffs after beating Bakersfield 12-2 and Dos Palos 6-1 in their opening two games.
This story was originally published May 28, 2022 at 9:05 PM.
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