Los Alamitos softball reaches CIF-SS Championship

Griffins found stride at just the right time

Layni Kimura punches a ball into the outfield for an RBI single. Photo by Ted Apodaca

The Los Alamitos High softball team held off a late rally by Santa Margarita for a 7-6 win in the CIF-SS Division 2 semifinals on Saturday at Los Alamitos High. The win put the Griffins in the championship game against JSerra, at 7 p.m. on Friday at Deanna Manning Stadium, at Colonel Bill Barber Marine Corps Memorial Park, in Irvine.

The Griffins led 7-1 until the top of the sixth inning, when the Eagles pushed across four runs, sparked by a lead-off home run. They would add one more run in the top of the seventh before the Griffins closed out the game. 

“It was a dog fight, you know, they never quit, … you knew that there was no lead that was safe with [Coach John Fitzpatrick’s] team because they are very, very competitive,” Los Al Head Coach Rob Weil said. 

Los Alamitos jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning when sophomore outfielder Erin Denny hit a two-out, two-run home run. In the fourth inning, the Griffins added another run when junior Alivia Magallanes, singled, stole second and then took third and scored, both on passed balls. 

The big blow for the Griffins came in the fifth inning when Cienna Kowaleski started the inning with a double and Audrey Hobbs reached on a walk. Layni Kimura reached on a fielder’s choice when the Eagles threw home to stop a run, but failed to gain an out. 

With the bases loaded, Denny drove in two more runs with a single, and one-out later, Allysen Pitcox drove in a third to push the lead to 7-1. Kimura also drove in the first run of the game with an RBI single in the first inning. Freshman pitcher Jaliane Brooks pitched 6 2/3 innings to get the win, giving way to senior Layni Kimura, who came on to get the final four outs for a save.