{"id":7055,"date":"2026-05-17T04:01:29","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T04:01:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=7055"},"modified":"2026-05-17T04:01:29","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T04:01:29","slug":"softball-playoffs-roundup-pacifica-rallies-past-cypress-la-habra-pulls-upset","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=7055","title":{"rendered":"Softball playoffs roundup: Pacifica rallies past Cypress; La Habra pulls upset"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p><em>Support our high school sports coverage by becoming a digital subscriber.\u00a0Subscribe now<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=7053\">Napoleon Solo holds off Iron Honor to win Preakness at Laurel Park<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Two leaping catches at the outfield fence to rob home runs. A strong throw from right field to nab a runner at the plate. A pitcher stabbing a line drive to start a double play. And rallying from a four-run deficit in the sixth inning.<\/p>\n<p>Pacifica\u2019s softball team united to produce all those plays, and a few more, to edge host Cypress 9-8 in nine innings in a thrilling CIF-SS Division 1 second round game Saturday.<\/p>\n<p>Center fielder Mattea Stern robbed a home run in the first inning, went 4 for 5 and drove in the winning run with a sacrifice fly in the ninth to lead the Mariners (19-10).<\/p>\n<p>The clash between Crestview League rivals produced four ties and two lead changes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was speechless at the end of that game,\u201d Pacifica coach Tony Arduino said. \u201cToday was a special day of resilience for our team. There was probably three or four occasions during this game where we could have thrown the towel in and said, \u2018You know what, it\u2019s been a good year. We won league.\u2019 But they refused to lose.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Final: Pacifica 9, Cypress 8, great game! pic.twitter.com\/JRa2bFUHgL<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Dan Albano (@ocvarsityguy) May 16, 2026<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Pacifica plays host to JSerra, which beat Ayala 5-4 in eight innings, in the quarterfinals Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>The Mariners\u2019 defense sparked their comeback against Cypress (17-13)<\/p>\n<p>With Cypress aiming to extend a 7-3 lead in the fifth, Pacifica right fielder Abigail Amezquita fielded a sharp, two-out single by Callie Kissell and threw to catcher Leyla Ayres, who tagged out the runner trying to score from second.<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cI think that really changed the momentum of the game,\u201d said Amezquita, a senior who also threw out a runner at the plate in a league game against Cypress.<\/p>\n<p>Ayres caught the throw from right just before the plate.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI knew if I let the ball one hop, it was risky,\u201d the senior catcher said. \u201cI just made as big of a tag as I could.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\ud83d\udc40Great defense Pacifica but Cypress leads 7-3 going to 6th pic.twitter.com\/MxVP9ACPmV<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Dan Albano (@ocvarsityguy) May 16, 2026<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Pacifica scored four runs in the sixth to tie the score 7-7. Stern singled in the first run, Natalie Pacheco followed with a two-run single and Serena Antillon tied the score with another single.<\/p>\n<p>The Mariners\u2019 forced extra inning with more stellar defense.<\/p>\n<p>With a runner on second and one out in the seventh, freshman pitcher Raquel Pineda of Pacifica stabbed a liner up the middle and threw to hustling shortstop Natalia Amezquita at second for an inning-ending double play.<\/p>\n<p>Pacifica took an 8-7 lead in the eighth as freshman Jenna Valladares scored Stern by drawing a bases-loaded walk with two outs.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=7048\">Garden Grove boys volleyball loses to Culver City in 5 sets in Division 6 final<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Cypress showed its determination in the bottom of the eighth as Kissell tied the score 8-8 with a home run.<\/p>\n<p>A dramatic play a third base set up Stern\u2019s game-winning sacrifice fly in the ninth.<\/p>\n<p>With one out, No. 9 batter Sanaiyah Cleland, a transfer from Pacifica, singled to center and raced to third on a two-base error on the play. The sophomore was called safe on a play that Cypress coach Terry Thompson discussed with the plate umpire, who met with his base umpires before upholding the call.<\/p>\n<p>Stern, a junior who is committed to Arizona, followed by sending a 1-1 pitch to center for a game-winning sacrifice fly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis win was really big for us, especially against Cypress,\u201d said Stern, who had three RBIs, scored three runs and stole two bases. \u201cOnce one person starts hitting, I feel like right now, the whole team gets it and we all get going.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Cypress pinch hitter Hailey Velasco snapped a 3-3 tie with a two-run single in the fourth.<\/p>\n<p>Tia Hernandez followed with a RBI sacrifice fly that a leaping Valladares kept from clearing the fence. Hayden Warner capped the four-run inning with a RBI double.<\/p>\n<p>Pacifica beat Cypress for the fourth time, including the third time by one run.<\/p>\n<p>The Centurions defeated Fullerton, ranked No. 1 in the county, in the first round Friday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI praised them for continuing to fight and never giving up,\u201d Thompson said of his team. \u201cIt was another, typical Cypress-Pacifica storybook ending. The saga continues. It\u2019s just great games all year long.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>In other Division 1 second round games:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>JSerra 5, Ayala 4 (8): <\/strong>Angie Jimenez singled in the winning run in the eighth to lead the host Lions (22-8). Brooklyn Lamb, Zena Edwards and Annabel Raftery hit home runs for JSerra while Liliana Escobar pitched a complete game with 10 strikeouts.<\/p>\n<p><strong>La Habra 6, Murrieta Mesa 4: <\/strong>Rylee Gruener hit a grand slam in the fourth inning and Samantha Cervantes pitched a complete game as the visiting Highlanders (22-7) knocked off the top-seeded Rams (26-2). Alyssa Hernandez went 3 for 4 for La Habra, which plays Orange Lutheran in the quarterfinals.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Orange Lutheran 17, Chino Hills 14: <\/strong>Senior infielders Sierra Nichols and Madelyn Armendariz each went 4 for 5 to power a 16-hit attack as the host Lancers (21-8) scored a season-high 17 runs. Nichols had a triple and home run and Armendariz collected three doubles.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=7046\">LAFC looks to shake its offensive struggles at Nashville<\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>More results to come.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>OCVarsity&#8217;s highlights from Orange County games in the second round of the CIF-SS softball playoffs Saturday.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7054,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-facts","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Softball playoffs roundup: Pacifica rallies past Cypress; La Habra pulls upset - Silicon Valley Moving Post<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=7055\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Softball playoffs roundup: Pacifica rallies past Cypress; 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