GREENFIELD — First-year Greenfield High softball coach Norma Ornelas guided the Bruins to their second Pacific Coast Athletic League divisional title in three years.
Greenfield finished 12-0 to claim the 2024-25 championship of the Cypress Division.
Ornelas, a 2020 Greenfield High graduate, guided her team to a 14-13 overall record. The Bruins were seeded into the Central Coast Section playoffs on Monday. They will host Independence (San Jose) in the CCS D-V playoffs on Saturday, May 24, at 1 p.m. at Greenfield High School.
“We had a good team that was able to produce a lot of runs in our division,” Ornelas said. “Everyone hit the ball in our lineup and we had four batters that hit 20 or more hits and one that just missed 20 hits with 18.”
Sophomore Chloe Zavala was a leader as a hitter and as a pitcher. Zavala appeared in 22 games (12-10 record) and finished third in the tri-county area with 162 strikeouts.
At the plate, Zavala had 28 hits, including a team-high 10 doubles, two triples, one homerun and 28 runs batted in.
Catcher Nathalie Soto led the Bruins with nine multi-hit games, tied Zavala with 28 hits, including six doubles, two triples and one home run. Freshman Brizea Rojas had eight multi-hit games, finished with 24 hits, including 10 doubles and two home runs and 23 RBIs.
Ornelas, a former pitcher for Greenfield, felt her experience on the mound helped her team to become stronger hitters.
“Our players had Chloe Zavala pitching to them and then I would go in and pitch a few rounds of batting practice,” Ornelas said. “I feel that was helpful to our hitters to see the two styles of pitching on a regular basis.”
Ornelas praised her former head coach Adrian Trujillo for giving helpful tips during the season.
“Coach Trujillo came out to help me when he could,” added Ornelas. “I really appreciated his help. Another thing that made us a better team was that most of our players only played softball and spent a lot of time on the field together.”
Last Monday in their final regular season game, the Bruins defeated the Santa Catalina Cougars at home by a 16-3 score. Greenfield scored eight runs in the bottom of the first inning and took advantage of 10 walks.
Yara Hernandez and Soto led Greenfield with two hits apiece. Soto, Ashley Zavala and Rojas smashed doubles.
Local teams finish strong
Gonzales High girls finished the regular season with an 11-10 overall record and took second place behind Greenfield with a 10-2 league record. The Spartans won their last games, humbling host Pajaro Valley, 29-6, and beating visiting Marina, 15-3, at Senior Night.
In the win against Pajaro Valley, Alizah Garcia, Maryanne Camarena, Ailette Reyes and Alizah Rodriguez had four hits apiece. Garcia finished with eight RBIs and hit two doubles with a home run. Camarena hit a triple with a home run and Rodriguez added a home run.
In the final game of the season, the Spartans finished with 16 runs and 16 hits against the Mariners. Camarena led the two with a double and a triple.
“We had dropped the championship game to Greenfield the previous week, but we finished the season strong,” said Gonzales head coach Jimmy Carrillo. “It the final two games, we outscored our opponents 44-9.”
Soledad softball was 8-8 in the Mission Division and 11-9 overall. In their final games of the regular season, the Aztecs were shut out 10-0 at Carmel and completed the week with a 14-4 home victory against North Monterey County.
Soledad successfully petitioned as an at-large team for the CCS D-V playoffs. The Aztecs will host Santa Clara in the playoffs on Saturday at 10 a.m. at Soledad High School.
In the Carmel game, Padre pitcher Ava Mangiapane had a complete game and allowed just two hits. Kassandra Hernandez and Mia Meza had the Soledad base hits.
At home against the Condors, Sophia Gonzales stroked four hits, including a triple, and Arlette Mosqueda had two hits with a triple and four RBIs. Hernandez had a three-hit game and Maria Villarruel finished with three hits.
