Setting the Golden Valley softball programs best record at 18-5, the Grizzlies have set the benchmark for the teams to come.
Facing off against Bishop Alemany (15-11) at home on Thursday the No.4-ranked Grizzlies weren’t able to continue this dream season as they fell to the Warriors 2-1 in the first round of the CIF-Southern Section Division 3 playoffs.
“Don’t hang your heads because you guys had a great season,” said Grizzlies coach Daniel Soto to his team. “Sometimes you pick a bad day to play one of your worst games and that’s what we did today.”
Jumping out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, after Alexis DeYoung’s blooper that brought in the games first run, the Grizzlies looked like they were on the way to the victory with Cassidy Cangemi in the circle.
Through two innings of play, Cangemi had struck out six and looked poised and polished to pitch another gem.
In the top of the third is where she ran into some trouble. After allowing three consecutive singles to the first three batters of the inning to load the bases, Cangemi struck out the next batter but then gave up another costly single to Samantha Fontaine, who brought in the runners from second and third base.
It gave the Warriors their first lead of the game, 2-1.
Finishing with a ridiculous 15 K’s, Cangemi was able to strike out six of the next sixteen batters she faced, only giving up three more hits to keep the Grizzlies in the game.
“I felt like I gave it all I could,” Cangemi said. “Sometimes you can’t win all of them. You win some and you lose some. We just have to keep our heads held high.”
The problem wasn’t the pitching, it was the lack of hitting. The Grizzlies only managed to get three more hits as Alemany’s pitcher kept getting the Golden Valley bats to ground out or pop up time and time again.
Falling in seven innings, the Grizzlies standard-setting season was cut short in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 3 playoffs at the hands of Bishop Alemany, 2-1.
Golden Valley only loses three seniors: Cangemi, Jasmine Carbajal and Marissa Alcaraz, so they should be able to reload and produce next year.
“I’m incredibly proud of this team,” Carbajal said. “We have been working hard this season and we really came together and it showed because we were able to make it to playoffs and play great all around.”
