Softball Notebook: Spartans Clinch Share of RHL Title

La Canada beat Temple City 1-0 on Friday night — a victory that gave them at least a share of the Rio Hondo League title for the third straight season. But considering how league titles are old hat at La Canada these days, the Spartans had other things to celebrate after the game. Instead, they sung “Happy Birthday” to Alyssa Stolmack, and cheerfully cleaned up the infield.

“Titles always feel good don’t they?” La Canada coach KC Mathews said. “These girls have been working their tails off. We are all excited since this was one of our goals that we wanted to accomplish this year. I’m never going to snicker about a league title because, well, you can never get enough of them.”

What’s most impressive about this team undoubtedly is its league performance. Arguably one of the toughest years in the Rio Hondo League with elite pitching from every team, the Spartans have remained undefeated at 9-0.

The wins though have not come easy. They had to get past Michelle Floyd twice and only needed two innings to take her down in a combined two games. And last game against Temple City, senior pitcher Lauren O’Leary got out of a bases-loaded jam by picking off the tying runner at third base to end the game.

All that has been done with a positive demeanor — win or lose.

“Even after a game, when we win so close, these girls are a handful to be around with,” Mathews said. “Watching them mess around with each other after a game, singing and running around, really shows that these are a special bunch of girls. All they want to do is have fun, but it’s always nice to have a good number of softball players duke it out each inning of every game.”

Mathews also has been excited to see a handful of seniors grow up to become ferocious players. Every current senior on the team were freshmen the same year that Mathews started at LCHS.

Anna Edwards has been difficult to take down at the plate. She currently is second on the team in batting average at .431 and leads the team in home runs with nine. The Seipler sisters and Kayle McCue have been crucial in the Spartan defense and have been clutch when need be on offense.

O’Leary by far has had the most work in her last year as a Spartan. As junior pitcher Lauren Cox has suffered a setback with a groin injury, she has carried most of the load in the circle.

Playing in doubleheaders and tossing numerous complete games, she has yet to wear down and has maintained a 0.45 ERA. O’Leary also boasts nine shutouts on the season.

“I knew since the first day we had practice my first year, there was a load of talent there in each of these players,” Mathews said. “They are the ones that have put in the effort, working hours on end to get better. It is a lot of fun for these girls to play successfully and compete to the level they want to be.”

Still, the playoffs are not on their minds just yet. With just three games to go and Cox having additional problems in her recovery, returning to rehab, the Spartans are just trying to focus finishing the season on a positive note. They would love to have Cox back in their pitching staff, as last year she and O’Leary combined to record more than 320 strikeouts.

With just two weeks to go in the regular season and Cox possibly returning at full strength, an 18-3 record without their full roster means the Spartans could be one of the most dangerous teams to be in the Division 5 playoffs.

“To have an arm like Lauren Cox only makes it better,” Mathews said.

Rio Hondo League battle

As the Spartans wrapped up a share of the league title, three teams are still battling for the second and third spots to advance to the playoffs.

On Tuesday, the San Marino Titans took down the Monrovia Wildcats 4-0, with all of the action happening in the first inning. Monrovia’s Emmy Orozco got off to a slow start, allowing four hits in a first inning that saw the Titans score all four of their runs.

Sophomore hurler Michelle Floyd plated two of the four runs, while Raquel Edmonds and Jacqueline Martinez batted in the final two. In the circle, Floyd allowed just two hits and struck out nine.

“The first inning was very flat,” Monrovia coach Randy Medina said. “We couldn’t make plays, made errors, and we didn’t support our pitcher. After the first, it was a great game. We did what we wanted to do against their best hitters, made better plays, but these girls are not afraid of Floyd. We can force other teams in making plays, and I know that if we put an effort like we did in those last six innings, we can still compete against anyone in our league.”

The Wildcats bounced back and beat South Pasadena 10-0 later in the way, while the Titans committed six errors in the first three innings and fell to La Canada 7-4.

The Titans played shorthanded, with Alexis Watanabe and Martinez out of the lineup. Without two of their top players defensively, San Marino struggled.

“We can’t go out in a game making six errors and expect to win,” San Marino coach Hilda Valencia said. “We understand that we were shorthanded, but we have other girls on the team that are able to get the job done, and it just didn’t happen.”

San Marino also bounced back after its defeat with a 15-3 win over South Pasadena, keeping the Titans in second place and two games ahead of Temple City. The Titans though still have a very tough schedule ahead of them, with their final three games against potential playoff teams within the league.

Monrovia also still has La Canada on the schedule this Thursday, and then the Wildcats face San Marino one more time in their regular season finale May 12.

“That very last game could be the deciding factor of who goes and who stays,” Medina said. “Numbers wise, each of the three teams could be tied up going into that last game. I’ve been coaching long enough to see some crazy things, but we need to get back to work in these last two weeks.”

Player of the week: Anna Edwards, La Canada

You would think that the way the Spartans have been playing over the last few weeks, a 1-0 win would not be noteworthy. But Edwards against Temple City belted a home run to left center field on Friday night against the Rams, which proved to be the only offense needed to earn the victory. That home run gave the Spartans a share of the Rio Hondo league title as well.

“Anna has been huge for us for four years,” Mathews said. “It’s nice to not solely rely on Edwards this year, but games like this when she comes through is always a big thing.”

Game recaps

Crescenta Valley 12, Glendale 0; Crescenta Valley 11, Hoover 0; Arcadia 9, Pasadena 0; La Salle 11, Temple City 2; Temple City 5, La Salle 2; Flintridge Prep 5, Windward 4; Flintridge Prep 11, Webb 1; Chaminade 12, Flintridge Sacred Heart 1; Chatsworth 7, Flintridge Sacred Heart 5; Flintridge Sacred Heart 9, Bell 3

Race To the Finish

With less than two weeks to go in the regular season, many teams still have a shot to clinch a playoff spot in each league. Several can also come one step closer in a league title. Here are the league standings as of Monday morning:

Mission League

1. Chaminade 15-7 (6-0)

2. Notre Dame 16-6 (5-1)

3. Alemany 8-13 (3-3)

4. Harvard Westlake 8-8 (2-4)

5. Flintridge Sacred Heart 8-12 (2-4)

6. Louisville 4-12 (0-6)

Pacific League

1. Burroughs 15-6 (9-0)

2. Crescenta Valley 16-3 (8-1)

3. Burbank 9-11 (7-2)

4. Arcadia 5-9 (4-4)

5. Hoover 6-10 (3-6)

6. Glendale 1-12 (1-6)

7. Pasadena 4-13 (1-7)

8. Muir 0-7 (0-7)

Prep League

1. Flintridge Prep 10-3 (7-1)

2. Mayfield 10-7 (6-2)

3. Rio Hondo Prep 11-4 (5-2)

4. Chadwick 6-7 (3-4)

5. Poly 4-7 (3-4)

6. Westridge 4-8 (3-6)

7. Webb 2-9 (0-8)

Rio Hondo League

1. La Canada 18-3 (9-0)

2. San Marino 12-6 (6-3)

3. Temple City 12-11 (4-5)

4. Monrovia 12-10-1 (3-5)

5. South Pasadena 2-19-1 (0-9)

Games On Tap

Tuesday: Flintridge Sacred Heart at Louisville, 3:00 p.m.; Bishop Amat at La Salle (at Big League Dreams, West Covina), 3:15 p.m.; Crescenta Valley at Burroughs, 3:30 p.m.; Rio Hondo Prep at Flintridge Prep, 3:30 p.m.

Wednesday: La Canada at San Marino, 3:30 p.m.; Monrovia at South Pasadena, 3:30 p.m.; Glendale at Crescenta Valley, 3:30 p.m.; Arcadia at Pasadena, 3:30 p.m.

Thursday: La Salle at Bishop Montgomery, 3:15 p.m.; Monrovia at La Canada, 3:30 p.m.; Temple City at San Marino, 3:30 p.m.

Friday: Crescenta Valley at Pasadena, 3:30 p.m.; Flintridge Prep at Mayfield, 3:30 p.m.; Burbank at Arcadia, TBA.

Manny Nunez's "Softball Noteboo" appears weekly across all Patch sites in the San Gabriel Valley.