RANCHO CORDOVA, CA (MPG) - With 10 games under their belt and only seven remaining, the Cordova Lancer girls’ softball team is currently 6 - 4. Ironically, all their wins have been in league play as they sit comfortably in first place. If the girls can keep up with this success they will achieve what very few teams are able to achieve and that’s to celebrate their fifth straight Sacramento Valley League championship. Being superstitious, I’m not going to say this fifth championship is going to be a cake walk, but the closest any of their league challengers have come is nine runs behind. Next year Cordova will move to the more competitive Metro League.

 Freshman Becca Lee hits double against Monterey Trail.

Now lets look at the makeup of this year’s team. I’m not sure if you remember, but last year’s team had no juniors. It was made up of six very talented seniors and the rest freshmen and sophomores. This year’s team does have four seniors on it, but none of whom played on last year’s championship team. Because the team was so strong last year, three of the seniors on this year’s team decided to play on the junior varsity team. These three seniors are Alyssa Lacayo, Selena Maya, and Morgan Sebastein. The fourth senior is Abigail (Abby) Perona who played catcher on the varsity team as a freshman, but decided to play travel ball the last two years and focus on her schoolwork.

 Morgan Sebastein is ready for the pitch against Monterey Trail.

Perona has transitioned to pitching and has been a major factor in most of the team’s victories.  She is currently seventh in league play with a .588 batting average and second in league with 14 runs batted in (RBI’s). Abby also has 5 doubles.

Another talented player to watch this year is sophomore catcher Briel Brookins. Brookins is also getting some play at shortstop and is the team’s leadoff batter. Freshman Becca Lee has primarily played shortstop this year and has shown great improvement with each game. Lee is third on the team for batting average at .541. The most improved player in my book is senior Morgan Sebastein. Sebastein leads the team in batting average at .667 (second in league), on base percentage at .733 (third in league) and slugging percentage at .916 (fourth in league). 

 Briel Brookins slides safely into third base against West Campus.

According to the head coach Kim Little, now in her eighth year at the helm, this year’s team is very balanced. “There’s not just one star or certain individuals to point out on this year’s team as each are all thriving in the direction of our overall success”, said Coach Little.  Coach Little credits this year’s success with such a young team to her staff of assistant coaches. This season welcomes new faces with long time assistant Mark Beamish moving away.  “My new set of assistant coaches are a tremendous addition to the program. The well of knowledge and passion for the game and athletics is one I am most grateful for,” said Coach Little. Assistant Coach Derek Gonzalez is the only returning coach this year. New to the program are assistant coaches Jenny Knippschild, Matt Hedrick and Steve Perona.

Coach Little says this year’s team theme is unity. She believes with unity you are going to be successful.  “Unity is strength and division is weakness. We can win not just games but everything with unity”, said Coach Little.  Coach Little is very excited for the future of this roster, because it is filled with tremendous talent for the next few years. I totally agree with Coach Little. For what I’ve witnessed, the team is playing like a seasoned team: making good plays in the field and coming up with timely hits at the plate.

 Abby Perona delivers a pitch against West Campus.

Come on out and cheer your Cordova Lancers on to their next victory. The next two home games are April 25 against Valley and April 30 against Johnson. Game time is 4 p.m. GO BIG RED!