ORANGE – By the third inning of the CIF-SS Division 1 first-round softball playoff game between Pacifica and El Modena on Thursday, the Vanguards seemed on the verge of winning the game by virtue of the mercy rule.
By the seventh inning, the Mariners had stormed back and had the bases loaded with two outs and the tying run on first base at El Modena High School.
Vanguards pitcher Ashley Driskill, who had come in to relieve starter Sara Pinedo earlier in the inning, got a strikeout for the final out and the Vanguards hung on for an 8-5 victory over the two-time defending Division 1 champion.
“I knew our girls were ready to show up,” El Modena coach Bobby Calderon said. “And we definitely did that. The thing is I knew the whole way that we had to finish the ballgame. Whether it was going to be in five innings or not. I knew the Mariners were going to continue to fight. I know what kind of program that is over there."
El Modena softball players, from left, Kaitlyn Galasso, Parker Mayes and Monica Garcia were the offensive standouts for the Vanguards in their 8-5 victory over Pacifica in a CIF-SS Division 1 first-round playoff game Thursday, May 15, 2025. (Photo by Lou Ponsi)
The Vanguards (19-8), who are ranked No. 7 in Orange County, will face another county powerhouse in Rosary (26-2-1), the No.1 team in the county, in a second-round matchup Saturday at El Modena.
Rosary defeated Bonita, 8-2, on Thursday.
El Modena scored two runs in the first inning and then sent 10 batters to the plate in a five-run second to take a 7-0 lead.
Monica Garcia delivered a two-run single in the inning and Kaitlyn Galasso singled in a run.
Galasso also led off the third with a home run that gave the Vanguards an 8-0 lead. She finished 2 for 2 with two walks, two RBIs and two runs scored.
“Our team was up and I was just trying to keep the energy going,” Galasso said of her home run. “They've walked me in the past, and once they started throwing to me, I was just homed in on driving the ball and that's what happened.”
El Modena's Kaitlyn Galasso is congratulated at the plate by her teammates after her solo home run in the third inning gave the Vanguards an 8-0 lead over Pacifica in the CIF-SS Division 1 playoffs Thursday, May 15, 2025. (Photo by Lou Ponsi)
The Vanguards took the 8-0 lead into the fifth when Leyla Ayres and Natalie Pacheco each hit solo home runs to get the No. 8 Mariners (15-12) closer.
Pacheco, who went 2 for 2 with two RBIs, singled home two runs in the sixth to get the Mariners within four, 8-4.
The Mariners quickly loaded the bases in the seventh, when the first three batters reached on a hit-by-pitch, a single and a walk.
Catherin Benitez then drove in the Mariners’ fifth run on a ground out.
Driskill struck out the next batter for the second out and after a walk to Ayres, loaded the bases again. The right-hander ended the drama by getting a strikeout for the final out of the game.
The Mariners and Vanguards, who finished in a tie for first place in Crestview League along with Cypress, were playing for the fourth time this season. They were matched up in the first round of the playoffs, to the dismay of both teams' coaches, because of the CIF Southern Section’s new computer-generated power ratings system.
Under the section’s previous postseason format, the top two playoff entries from a league were placed on opposite sides of the bracket if they were in the same division.
“To me, these are two of the better teams in Division 1,” Pacifica coach Tony Arduino said “It's a shame that we had to play in the first round. But you know, it's a new system. So, you know, obviously it's going to take some time to get used to it, but I've been coaching high school baseball and softball a long time. And I've never, ever seen a first-round game against two league teams. There were rules so it didn't happen.”
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