ORANGE — Early offensive outbursts have helped carry the El Modena softball team to victories through the first two rounds of the CIF-SS 1 Division playoffs.
The Vanguards scored four first-inning runs and went on to a 7-5 victory over Rosary Academy, the No. 1 team in the Orange County rankings, in a second-round game Saturday at El Modena High School.
No. 7 El Modena (21-8) will play at Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks in the quarterfinals Wednesday.
The Vanguards scored two runs in the first and five in the second in their 8-5 victory over Pacifica in a first-round game Thursday.
El Modena softball players celebrate after the final out in their 7-5 victory over Rosary in the second round of the CIF-SS Division 1 playoffs on Saturday, May 17, 2025, at El Modena High School. (Photo by Lou Ponsi)El Modena collected 12 hits in the victory over Pacifica and 10 against the Royals (26-3-1), who had won 17 games in a row coming into the game.
Vanguards coach Bobby Calderon said: “That’s kind of been our mantra that we’ve tried to live by. Right now, I think the girls really are focused in on that and they know what it feels like to be ready to go on pitch one.”
The big first-inning blow for the Vanguards was a three-run home run by Parker Mayes that came with two outs.
“That is the first time run I’ve hit a home run on this field like during a game,” Mayes said. “I was taking a two-strike approach … Just widen my feet a little bit. I’m just trying to put my bat on the ball and then she kind of just served it up there.”
El Modena starting pitcher Sara Pinedo was perfect through the first three innings against a Rosary squad that came into the game averaging 8.4 runs per game with a .396 team batting average.
The Royals got a bit closer in the fourth on an RBI single from Domonique McCoy and a run-scoring sacrifice fly from Alisa Fair.
But with a runner on second and no outs in the inning, Pinedo retired the next three hitters, minimizing the damage.
“I had never pitched against them but I knew about them and I knew they had a lot of lefties,” Pinedo said. “It’s something I struggle with as a pitcher so I was like, I need to attack early and that’s something I did on the lefties. I attacked early.”
Pinedo, who is committed to Loyola Marymount, also praised her teammates for getting her big leads in the past two playoff games.
“I just liked how they came out and hit today,” she said.
El Modena’s Kylie Tafua delivers an RBI single during a four-run first inning for the Vanguards in a 7-5 victory over Rosary in second round of the CIF-SS Division 1 playoffs Saturday, May 17, 2025. (Photo by Lou Ponsi) El Modena’s Kylie Tafua crosses the plate during a four-run first inning for the Vanguards in their 7-5 victory over Rosary in the second round of the CIF-SS Division 1 playoffs Saturday, May 17, 2025. (Photo by Lou Ponsi) Show Caption1 of 2El Modena’s Kylie Tafua delivers an RBI single during a four-run first inning for the Vanguards in a 7-5 victory over Rosary in second round of the CIF-SS Division 1 playoffs Saturday, May 17, 2025. (Photo by Lou Ponsi) ExpandAfter the Royals scored two, El Modena came right back in the fifth and added three more runs, with leadoff hitter Kylie Tafua and Sofia Ramos delivering RBI singles, giving the Vanguards a 7-2 lead.
But the Royals weren’t finished scoring either, as they came back with three runs, partly because of two El Modena errors along with an RBI single from Alisa Fair.
Ashley Driskill relieved Pinedo in the sixth and retired the side in order in the seventh to preserve the victory.
“The key was just the early offense on their end,” Rosary coach Tom Tice said. “They just hit the ball really hard. We scored nothing in the first. In fact, our first eight batters got out. You usually don’t lose a game in the first inning, but that certainly didn’t help.”
Related Articles
CIF-SS softball playoffs: Thursday’s scores, second-round schedule El Modena softball holds off Pacifica in first round of CIF-SS playoffs K’lene Gutierrez supplies the muscle in Rosary softball’s mighty offense League foes Pacifica and El Modena to clash in first round of softball playoffs CIF-SS softball playoffs: Schedule and matchups for all 8 divisions Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( El Modena softball’s early outburst leads to win over Rosary in CIF-SS playoffs )
Also on site :