Godinez softball players celebrate after winning the school’s first CIF title (Photo: Tim Burt OC Sports Zone).
Godinez High’s softball team made history for the school and the city of Santa Ana in a big way Saturday afternoon at Deanna Manning Stadium in Irvine.
The Grizzlies settled the issue early scoring nine runs in the first two innings on their way to capturing the school’s first CIF title in softball.
Godinez rolled to a 15-1 victory over El Segundo in the CIF Division 4 championship game at Deanna Manning Stadium in Irvine.
To see the slide show, please click on the first photo
The No. 2 seeded Grizzlies (26-4) also brought home the first softball crown by a Santa Ana Unified School District team.
“I’m ecstatic for these young ladies who have worked their butts off all year, it’s exciting,” said Godinez Coach Edward Medina, who has been the team’s coach from the start. “It’s exciting for the school, the city of Santa Ana and the great thing about it, our top half of the lineup struggled today and our bottom half picked us up, all with two outs.
“They’ve been doing that all year. This team is resilient. They play with a lot of passion and they play for each other.”
Starting pitcher Natalie Carlos went the distance, allowing five hits and striking out five. Carlos (17-1) was supported by a 12-hit attack.
“It was crazy, I’m just so proud of my team,” said Carlos. “I couldn’t have done it without them. They battled so hard and it’s just a dream come true. We’ve worked for this for a long time.”
Center fielder Andrea Uriarte, the seventh batter in the order, led the way with five RBI, including a double and a triple.
“It feels great; we’ve worked four years for this,” said Uriarte. “Six of our nine starters are seniors. “Finally, we got what we deserved.”
The Grizzlies started out fast in the first inning.
With one out, Samantha Villanueva walked after an illegal pitch was called. Villanueva originally struck out on the play.
Then Carlos singled and Airlin Ramirez walked to load the bases. Iyari Ramirez followed with a walk to drive in another run.
The Grizzlies then got second life. when Andrea Uriarte’s routine foul pop up was dropped Uriarte followed with a bases loaded double to drive in three more runs.
“I was so mad at myself for swinging at that pitch,” Uriarte said. “As soon as she dropped it, I realized I had to adjust and swing the bat. I was trying too hard to clear the fence.”
Godinez added to its lead with five runs in the second inning. Carlos drove home a run on a sacrifice fly, Airlin Ramirez drove home two runs with a single and Uriarte had a two-run double to put the Grizzlies ahead 9-1.
Godinez dominated after that, scoring two runs in the fifth inning and three more in the sixth inning, two coming on a double by Keana Pola.
Carlos also had two hits and catcher Iyari Ramirez was 2 for 3 with three RBI and two runs scored for Godinez.
El Segundo (25-7) scored its only run in the first inning on an RBI single by Julia Chavez.
Katie Croxall and Chavez had two hits for El Segundo.
-Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com
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