Capistrano Valley players display their championship patches after Saturday’s final. (Photos: Tom Connolly, For OC Sports Zone).
Madi McDonnell homered and pitched a complete game to lead Capistrano Valley to a 6-1 victory over Santiago of Corona in the CIF Division 3 softball championship game Saturday afternoon at Deanna Manning Stadium.
The victory gives the Cougars (28-6) their first CIF softball championship in the school’s history.
“We were not nervous; we had lots of energy and we’re excited to win a CIF title; I have so much passion for Capistrano Valley,” said McDonnell.
“On the home run, I was looking for an inside pitch and I got one and it felt pretty good when it left the bat”. It was McDonnell seventh homerun of the season.
McDonnell also got some outstanding defensive play behind her.
With two on and one out in the third inning, Cougars third baseman Siena Stickney snagged a sharply hit grounder near the third base bag, tagged third and threw to first to complete the double play, ending a Sharks rally.
“I imagined right before the ball was hit to me what I was going to do if it came to me,” said Stickney. “I felt it was a big moment in the game and it fired us up.”
To see additional photos, click on the first picture:
Capistrano Valley took advantage of several Santiago miscues in the third and fourth innings and scored three unearned runs to take a 3-0 lead after four innings. Following McDonnell’s solo shot in the fifth, the Cougars added two more runs in the sixth on a two-run single by Amaya Bixler.
“We put in a lot of hard work this season and we were loose coming into today’s game and this championship means a lot to all of us,” said Bixler.
The Sharks pushed across its only run of the game in the seventh inning after loading the bases with no outs. But the Cougars pulled off a double play and then McDonnell retired Reagan Kunkle to ground out to first to end the game, securing the title for Capistrano Valley.
Capo Valley first-year coach Melissa Roth said her teams’ goal this season was a CIF championship.
“From the first day, these girls bought into our system; they put in the work in the weight room and on the field and our goal was to win a CIF championship,” Roth said. “Madi does everything; she hits, she pitches and the whole team showed their dedication throughout the season.”
McDonnell, Kate Verhoef and Bixler each had two hits and Peyton Hitzler scored two runs to lead Capistrano Valley. Emily Delgado pitched a complete game and Abigail Cruz had two hits for Santiago (18-14-2).
—Tom Connolly, For OC Sports Zone
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