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Orange Lutheran softball player Morgan Fitzpatrick was ruled ineligible by the CIF Southern Section because it found pre-enrollment contact between the player and an assistant coach at the Trinity League school, her father Luke Fitzpatrick and section documents confirm.
Fitzpatrick, who transferred to Orange Lutheran from Los Alamitos during the offseason, appealed the ruling to the CIF State on April 15. A decision is expected this week, Orange Lutheran athletic director Karen Kekipi stated.
Luke Fitzpatrick said the transfer case has been challenging for his daughter, a senior infielder who signed with Notre Dame, and his family. The family had hoped that she would become eligible after observing the sit-out period for transfers who don’t move. The sit-out period ended March 27.
In a letter to the Fitzpatrick family dated March 27, CIF-SS commissioner Mike West stated that Fitzpatrick is ineligible for the remainder of this season because of evidence of pre-enrollment contact between the player and Orange Lutheran assistant coach Ken Briggs.
West added there was evidence that Fitzpatrick’s transfer was “athletically motivated.”
CIF-SS rules state that pre-enrollment contact “may include, but is not limited to any communication of any kind, directly or indirectly, with the student, parent(s)/guardian(s)/caregiver, relatives, or friends of the student about the athletic programs at a school; orientation/information programs, shadowing programs; attendance at outside athletic or similar events by anyone associated with the school to observe the student; participation by the student in programs supervised by the school or its associates before enrollment in the school.”
Section bylaws further state, “Athletically motivated pre-enrollment contact of any kind by anyone from or associated with a school or its athletic programs to which a student may transfer or move into the attendance area is not permitted.”
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West stated that there was evidence that Fitzpatrick “participated in softball contests” for the Bengals travel organization, where Briggs is a coach, within the 24 months prior to her transfer to Orange Lutheran.
Luke Fitzpatrick said his daughter didn’t play on a travel team for Briggs before enrolling at Orange Lutheran but played on a travel team for Briggs’ wife. The father said his daughter attended hitting lessons and fielding clinics with Ken Briggs.
Fitzpatrick attended Los Alamitos her first three years of high school. She earned second-team All-Sunset League honors last season for the Griffins, who won CIF-SS Division 2.
For the past two school years, no transfer decision by the Southern Section has been overruled on appeal to the CIF State, according to data from the state office. In 2024-25, all 12 appeals from the section were sustained by the CIF State.
NOTES
Bolsa Grande finished 12-0 in the Orange League as it won its first league title. The Matadors (18-5) entered the season as the only school in the Garden Grove district without a league softball title. …
Orange (17-5) went 10-2 and won the Grove League for the first league title in school history, coach David Poitra said. …
Sunny Hills senior Elayna Marquez leads Orange County with 16 home runs after hitting six last week.