Savannah Gonzalez and Peyton May lead Norco softball team into Division1 semifinals

ENCINO - Norco first baseman Savannah Gonzalez has played much of her junior season with pain, the result of being plunked with a handful of pitches.

“I have a running joke with her that the list of what she hasn’t hurt is shorter than one of what she hasn’t hurt,” Cougars softball coach Rick Robinson said.

Wednesday afternoon, it was Gonzales who put a hurting on the ball.

Gonzalez homered to kickstart a seven-run outburst in the top of the fifth inning and added another blast the following inning as Norco continued defense of its CIF Southern Section Division 1 championship with an 8-0 victory over Sherman Oaks Notre Dame in a quarterfinal game at Encino Franklin Fields.

“It’s a lot more fun hitting the ball than getting hit by one,” said Gonzalez, who also homered Saturday.in Norco’s second-round win over Riverside Poly.

Peyton May, a senior headed to Oklahoma State, shined in the circle with a three-hitter and seven strikeouts to record the team’s 16th shutout this season.

Aliyah Garcia, May’s future college teammate in Stillwater, got the start for Notre Dame (23-4) and matched zeroes for the first four innings of the contest.

The Cougars refused to stay silent any longer and let out a huge roar the third time through the order. Sasha Pham and Kendra Nelsen both reached on infield singles to open up the fifth inning, and Gonzalez lined a 1-1 offering from Garcia over the wall in left-center field for a three-run homer.

“I knew what pitch I wanted,” Gonzalez said. “That’s exactly what I wanted to do. I wanted to go (opposite field), and it happened to go over the fence.”

Leighton Gray followed with another laser to left field to make it back-to-back homers. And the hitting was contagious, as those home runs were the first two of six consecutive hits for Norco (28-2). Camryn May, Sadie Burroughs and Dillyn Eckenrod added RBI doubles to extend the advantage to 7-0.

Gonzalez launched a solo homer over the netting in left-center field in the sixth. That was the only hit allowed by reliever Brooklyn Mireles in 2 2/3 innings.

“Savannah got the big one and everything just opened up,” Robinson said of that fifth inning. “It’s nice when they fall in. even better when it’s over a wall.

“And with the pitching we have, an inning like that can demoralize the other team.”

May was outstanding again Wednesday. She worked out of jams in the third and fourth innings and dominated down the stretch to improve to 13-1.

“I just wanted to attack the zone earlyy but make sure it wasn’t something they could be aggressive on,” May said. “I tried to stay calm and within myself.”

Notre Dame had runners at first and second with one out in the bottom of the fourth inning, but May got a pop out and strikeout to end the scoring threat.

“That was big,” Robinson said. “They had a chance to go up and get momentum, but Peyton gets out of it. And then we turn around and score seven.”

Gonzalez, Nelsen, Burroughs and Bella Ray each had two hits for Norco on Wednesday.

The Cougars will see a familiar opponent Saturday when JSerra comes to town for a semifinal clash. The Lions handed Norco its first loss of the season March 6 at the Dave Kops Tournament of Champions. The Cougars avenged the loss in a nonleague game the following month with a walk-off 2-1 win.

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This story was originally published May 21, 2026 at 1:37 AM.