April 16, 2025
By Loren Kopff • @LorenKopff on X
The 2024 CIF-Southern Section Division 2 and Division 5 softball champions faced each other this past Tuesday and unlike last May 18, a winner could not be decided, thanks to Gahr High sophomore third baseman Leah Magana. She deposited a one out, first-pitch home run over the center field fence to enable the hosts to tie Valley Christian High 2-2 in a non-league contest.
Since it was not a league game, it ended with the final out in the bottom of the seventh with plenty of daylight left. While the Defenders don’t have another game until Tuesday when they visit California High, Gahr (10-10-2) entertained La Serna High and La Habra High in consecutive days after the rare tilt with its Artesia Blvd. neighbors. The last time the schools, separated by less than a mile, faced each other was on Mar. 7, 2014. And the reason for the low scoring affair can be attributed to the pitching from sophomores Isabelle Gonzalez of Gahr and Rachel Zhang of V.C.
“I knew they’ve really done a good job of improving over there,” said Gahr head coach Rey Sanchez. “When you win CIF at any level, obviously you’ve done something special. The coaching staff over there has done a good job of getting them dialed in; they do a good job of managing the game, and their girls play hard. They came ready to play.”
“Oh absolutely,” said V.C. head coach Chet Kingery. “Gahr’s a great team; I expected to come out and see some great pitching for our hitters and that’s what we got.”
After Gonzalez retired the first five batters she saw on 21 pitches with a pair of strikeouts, senior left fielder Zoee Barrett beat out an infield hit, and junior designated plater Brianna Ramirez singled to the right field gap. But Gonzalez ended the game’s first scoring opportunity by striking out freshman right fielder Molly Douglas.
That would be the first of six straight batters she did not allow to get on base until she hit sophomore right fielder Tallulah Ireland. But all that changed in the top of the fifth inning when Gonzalez walked Ramirez and Douglas singled to the right field gap. Junior second baseman Aubrielle Ramirez then put down a bunt in which she was safe at first, but freshman pinch runner Jewel Malae was picked off third base.
Two pitches later, junior center fielder Choyce Chambers was safe on a fielder’s choice and the two runners would steal their respective bases to set up the stage for junior catcher Peyton Kingery. On a full count, she singled up the third base line and dove into the first base bag where she was barely safe, but more importantly, drove in Aubrielle Ramirez and Chambers. After that, the Defenders (11-3-1) would get three more runners on base in the final two frames.
“Our bottom of the lineup is just as good as our top,” said Chet Kingery. “They swing the bat really well; that’s why they play and that’s why they start. They’re tough outs and they look for good pitches to hit and they put good bat on the ball. You’re going to get rewarded when you do the right things the right way.
“Peyton’s a gritty player,” he later said. “She knows what it takes and that’s what it takes; that’s what she does.”
V.C.’s star catcher jammed her ring finger on her left hand, which is her catching hand, with the dive into first base and was taken out of the game.
Meanwhile, Zhang was just as effective as Gonzalez, as she gave up three singles, walked one and faced two over the minimum through the first five innings because one Gahr runner was caught stealing and another one was picked off. In fact, the four runners to reach through the first five innings did not make it to second base. And, Zhang had struck out one batter in each of the first five innings.
“All game, I don’t think we adjusted to the strike zone; the strike zone was a little bit on the bigger side in this game for both sides,” said Sanchez. “We didn’t adjust to the outer pitch well enough. We finally did [later] and Leah Magana, with a nice hit there, came through for us, so that was big.
“Once you see that two innings have gone by and you see what the strike zone is, there’s got to be some physical adjustments that we make,” he continued. “And I think we kind of refused to make that…in the third, fourth and fifth innings.”
But in the bottom of the sixth, junior designated player Alexis Johnson singled on shallow right. After a sacrifice on the first pitch from freshman right fielder Megan Wong, Magana tied the game.
“That was big; it was super important for her,” said Sanchez. “I know she wasn’t completely happy with how they had scored their runs on the ground ball right at her. She was a little bit slow getting rid of the ball. So I know she was a little down.
“She’s a big time hitter and I believe in her 100 percent, and I’ve seen the power and the bat,” he added. “She still has [played in] very few games for us. I’m happy with her coming through. She had a nice hit in her second at-bat, but she did come through and got a pitch and really delivered a nice ball for us.”
“You find the barrel and good things happen,” said Chet Kingery. “That girl found her barrel and something good happened for her. Rachel is a workhorse for us and that’s what she does. I think she hit her spot, and [Magana] did her job. What can we say?”
Both teams collected half a dozen hits with Gahr freshman shortstop Hazel Anglo going three for three and Magana two for three while six different players accounted for V.C.’s offensive production. Zhang threw 122 pitches, struck out seven and walked two while Gonzalez threw 107 pitches and had one more strikeout.
“Bella’s a good pitcher; she hits her spots, and she works both sides of the plate really well,” said Kingery. “You can’t guess on her because she’s that good. Rachel came in and hit spots, mixed her speeds pretty good and she stayed off the good part of the bat.”
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.