Finally: Laguna Creek ends McClatchy’s softball dominance in Metro League

Finally.

The Laguna Creek softball team finally put an end to all the frustrating losses to McClatchy on Thursday. The Cardinals rallied for four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to pull out a 7-5 win.

After the dramatic game, Laguna Creek coach Rick Elkins tapped his chest

“My thumper’s still not back to normal right now but it’s a good unnormal,” he said.

Nothing was normal about this Cardinals win. The victory moved Laguna Creek to 8-0 in the Metro League, which any other year would secure a title banner with one game yet to play. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, league titles are unofficial this season. It would be the first in the 26-year history of the high school.

No matter. There were a few tears and hugs after Laguna Creek rallied to beat the Lions. McClatchy beat the Cardinals in every game for 10 years; Laguna Creek swept their two games this year.

Trailing 5-3 in the sixth inning Thursday, freshman Sarah Hanf singled, Ryleigh O’Connell walked and Alyssa Dacanay hit an RBI single to cut the lead to 5-4. That brought up No. 3 hitter Mia Reyes, who was already 3-for-3. Reyes mashed a ball into the fence in left centerfield for a two-RBI triple and a 6-5 lead. She later scored on a sacrifice fly for the final run.

Reyes credited her hitting coach, Erin Capps, for tweaking her swing the night before. With the wind howling in off the outfield fence, Reyes still managed to smack a ground-rule double and a pair of singles.

The Cardinals are used to a little adversity. They started the year 3-6 before banging out eight straight wins.

“We started off a little bit rough but we started playing together as a team,” Reyes said. “We all started playing together and hitting the ball well.”

The numbers bear that out. Six Laguna Creek players are hitting .400 or better and the Cardinals are knocking on the door of The Bee’s Top 20 rankings (hint, hint).

“It is unbelievable,” Dacanay said. “We were playing for each other but wondering, ‘What’s our stats?’ Now we just want to play for each other and get the win.”

Seemingly everyone on the Laguna Creek roster had a star-turn moment Thursday. Right fielder Brooklyn Thurgood tossed a laser beam to home plate to gun out a McClatchy runner; the team’s top hitter, she also clapped her hands after a sacrifice bunt in the sixth inning moved Hanf and O’Connell to second and third. Starting pitcher Amanda Devaney pecked her way through the McClatchy order for much of the game; at the plate, she earned two intentional walks and hit a scorched single.

Elkins, the coach, credited Dacanay with helping to turn the season around. The shortstop missed the first few games with an ankle injury, then struggled at the plate during the 3-8 start.

“She tried to get back as soon as possible because it was killing her,” Elkins said. “She’s a real team player. She felt helpless sitting on the bench cheering. She couldn’t get a bat in her hand or go get a glove.”

McClatchy had a typical offensive day, scratching out runs with aggressive baserunning. Annalyn Brown had a single, a double and a run scored, Serena Abar had a pair of hits and two RBIs and Clare Yanez went 2-for-4. The Lions clawed back from a 2-0 deficit to tie the game 2-2 in the top of the fifth, then rallied again for three more runs in the top of the sixth to take a 5-3 lead.

“I gotta take my hat off to McClatchy,” Elkins said. “That’s a great program, they’re very well-coached. …It’s always a battle. Even when they had their winning streak against us, they were never blowouts. I have to give credit to them because they’ve been the king of the throne for a long time.”

There’s a new king now. No official league title? No playoffs? That’s OK. The Cardinals have seven juniors. This is a very big deal.

“This is pretty huge for us,” Reyes said. “Laguna Creek softball has never been a big deal. Everyone kind of looks over us. And I think this year we definitely made more of a name for ourselves than ever before.”