{"id":16646,"date":"2011-05-29T12:17:56","date_gmt":"2011-05-29T19:17:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/?p=16646"},"modified":"2011-05-29T17:35:24","modified_gmt":"2011-05-30T00:35:24","slug":"cif-ss-softball-semifinals-preview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/?p=16646","title":{"rendered":"CIF-SS Softball Semifinals Preview"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Megan Siepler had four RBI's in La Canada's win over Katella (Photo by Anne Cypress)<\/p><\/div>\n

Games are on Tuesday at 3:15 pm.<\/p>\n

Would anybody have picked two Mission Valley League teams to make the semifinals with a chance to meet in the CIF-SS Division 5 finals?<\/p>\n

Arroyo and South El Monte may get that opportunity.<\/p>\n

Much was expected of La Canada after last season\u2019s near miss in the semifinals to South Hills.<\/p>\n

Speaking of the Huskies a new league and division didn\u2019t thwart its run to the semifinals for the second straight season.<\/p>\n

Bishop Amat made an incredible turnaround from not making the playoffs in 2010 to one game away from the finals for the second time in four years.<\/p>\n

DIVISION 2<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

La Mirada <\/strong>at <\/strong>Oxnard \u2013 The Matadores needed to defeat 2009 CIF Champs Tesoro and #2 seeded Bonita before defeating Beckman in the quarterfinals.<\/p>\n

La Mirada\u2019s pitching has been key to its playoff run by allowing just three runs during the playoffs.<\/p>\n

While Rochelle Sablay<\/strong> has been struggling throughout the post season, Mylee Macahilig<\/strong>, Amber Hickman<\/strong> and Lisa Perez<\/strong> have all had a hand in helping the Matadores to the semifinals.<\/p>\n

Hickman, Jenevive Rivas<\/strong>, and Ana Pedroza<\/strong> have done a remarkable job of getting into the circle and getting hitters out during crucial times.<\/p>\n

The Yellowjackets have won six straight and have only lost two games since April 16th<\/sup>. The losses have come to the likes of Camarillo and La Canada. Both teams are in the semifinals of its CIF Divisions.<\/p>\n

In three games during the playoffs, Oxnard has two shutouts and scored 24 runs.<\/p>\n

Alexis Edwards<\/strong> threw a one-hitter in the Yellowjackets win over Millikan in the quarterfinals.<\/p>\n

Candice Garcia<\/strong>, Alyson Hampton<\/strong>, and Ariana Lopez<\/strong> combined to go 8-for-11 to help Oxnard advance.<\/p>\n

DIVISION 3<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

South Hills at Bishop Amat \u2013 <\/strong>If only it were the CIF Finals between these two teams. Each program has been in this position the last couple of seasons with the Huskies upending La Canada\u2019s playoff run last season.<\/p>\n

In last year\u2019s finals South Hills ran into Whittier Christian and were held scoreless. The Huskies were one-hit by Courtney McGee<\/strong> in the loss.<\/p>\n

Both teams did face each other prior to the season starting with a scrimmage but this time it counts.<\/p>\n

The Lancers finished the 2008 season in Irvine with a loss to Ocean View in the CIF Finals.<\/p>\n

For South Hills, Brittany Rodriguez<\/strong> and Sam Nieves<\/strong> have hammered opposing pitching all season. During the playoffs Rodriguez and Lexi Robles<\/strong> have been key to the success of the Huskies. Kristen Stewart<\/strong> came up big last game with 2 RBI\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Cassie Padilla<\/strong> and Brandy Galaviz<\/strong> combined for 5 RBI\u2019s in Bishop Amat\u2019s win over Torrance. Padilla has 5 RBI\u2019s for the playoffs.<\/p>\n

Natalie Sanchez<\/strong> can cause problems for any team in the circle and has only allowed five runs this postseason.<\/p>\n

DIVISION 5<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

South El Monte at La Canada \u2013 <\/strong>Cinderella wears dark blue and maze<\/span><\/strong>. The improbable run by the Eagles continues when they face #1 seeded La Canada.<\/p>\n

South El Monte upset West Valley, #4 seeded Duarte and Marlborough during the playoffs. It hasn\u2019t been pretty for the Eagles as they have scored 28 runs while allowing 17 in three games.<\/p>\n

Salina Gonzalez<\/strong> and Angie Aguinaga<\/strong> have led South El Monte by timely hitting. Gonzalez has six hits in the playoffs.<\/p>\n

Demi Nguyen<\/strong> continues to just battle in the circle for the Eagles. Nguyen scattered five hits in South El Monte\u2019s win over the Mustangs in the quarterfinals.<\/p>\n

The Spartans still remember last year\u2019s near miss of a CIF Finals appearance. It has been the fire that keeps them hungry for a shot a title.<\/p>\n

La Canada has been solid all around the field with clutch hitting and strong pitching. The Spartans have allowed just 13 runs in 21 games.<\/p>\n

Lauren O\u2019Leary<\/strong> finally gave up her first run in 35 innings pitched.<\/p>\n

A different hitter has starred for La Canada during its postseason run. In its win over Ramona Convent, Lauren Cox<\/strong> helped get the Spartans on track and Kelsey Drange<\/strong> had 3 RBI\u2019s. Anna Edwards<\/strong> led the way against Hemet with two homers. Megan Siepler<\/strong> had a four RBI game in the win over Katella.<\/p>\n

Arroyo <\/strong>at Beaumont \u2013 Mission Valley League champs Lady Knights have upset San Marino and Savanna to get in position to be at Deanna Manning Stadium next weekend.<\/p>\n

Arroyo heads into the game with an 11-game winning streak and only allowed four runs in the playoffs.<\/p>\n

Paige Medina<\/strong> has come up big for the Lady Knights by accounting for five of the eight runs scored. Jaclyn Wagner<\/strong> is tough as nails in the circle after taking a line drive to the jaw against the Titans and coming back with two straight solid performances to pick up wins.<\/p>\n

To get to the finals Arroyo will have to face Beaumont ace Alyssa Fuimanono<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Fuimanono has 183 strike outs on the season and a 1.73 ERA in 26 appearances.<\/p>\n

Stephanie Tickmeyer<\/strong> leads the Cougars with seven homers and during the playoffs has been the leader in RBI\u2019s.<\/p>\n

As a team Beaumont hit 27 homers in 28 games.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Games are on Tuesday at 3:15 pm. Would anybody have picked two Mission Valley League teams to make the semifinals with a chance to meet in the CIF-SS Division 5 finals?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[5342,5465,5471,5423,5464,5469,2362,5466,114,49,5468,4673,1952,5467,2948,4871,5463,2412,3135,48,5461,2364,2363,3089,5236,5013,5462,5392,5124,5242,5440,3088,115,143,5470],"class_list":["post-16646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-high-school-sports","tag-alexis-edwards","tag-alsyon-hampton","tag-alyssa-fuimanono","tag-amber-hickman","tag-ana-pedroza","tag-angie-aguinaga","tag-anna-edwards","tag-ariana-lopez","tag-arroyo","tag-bishop-amat","tag-brandy-galaviz","tag-brittany-rodriguez","tag-candice-garcia","tag-cassie-padilla","tag-demi-nguyen","tag-jaclyn-wagner","tag-jenevive-rivas","tag-kelsey-drange","tag-kristen-stewart","tag-la-canada","tag-la-mirada-matadores","tag-lauren-cox","tag-lauren-oleary","tag-lexi-robles","tag-lisa-perez","tag-megan-siepler","tag-mylee-macahilig","tag-natalie-sanchez","tag-paige-medina","tag-rochelle-sablay","tag-salina-gonzalez","tag-sam-nieves","tag-south-el-monte","tag-south-hills","tag-stephanie-tickmeyer"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16646"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16646\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16649,"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16646\/revisions\/16649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}