The championship Cordova team poses with coaches.

RANCHO CORDOVA, CA (MPG) - The 2023-24 softball season ended with Cordova finishing league play undefeated and grabbing its 5th straight Greater Sacramento League championship. There will not be an opportunity to accomplish a sixth championship, as the Cordova Lancers will be moving to the Metro League next year. This move, although being a more challenging league, should be a better fit for Cordova’s needs. The move gives the Lancers the ability to field a junior varsity team, which the GSL lacked. Having a JV team will be a major program building opportunity.

The Lancers finished with an overall record of 12-6 and had five players chosen with All-League honors. The five players were senior Abby Perona, senior Morgan Sebastein, junior Adriana Arana, sophomore Briel Brookins and freshman Becca Lee.

 Abby Perona delivers the pitch against Bella Vista.

 Morgan Sebastein is ready at the plate against Monterey Trail.

 Adriana Arana gets a base hit against Valley.

 Briel Brookins gets a base hit against West Campus.

 Becca Lee attempts to throw the runner out at first against Bella Vista.

All five All-League players had some pretty nice numbers offensively. Perona finished the season with a .673 batting average, .679 on base percentage and a slugging percentage of .909. Sebastein finished with a .667 batting average, .786 on base percentage and a slugging percentage of .833. Arana had a .526 batting average, a .591 on base percentage and a slugging percentage of .667. Brookins had a.552 batting average, a .614 on base percentage and a .776 slugging percentage. Lee finished with a .590 batting average, .638 on base percentage and a .787 slugging percentage. Brookins and Perona were tied for first place in league with 26 runs batted in apiece. Brookins also led the league in runs scored with 29.

Also being honored by the league was coach Kim Little as she was chosen as Coach of the Year for the 2023-24 season. Little was also chosen as the Coach of the Year for the Cordova girl’s 2023-24 basketball season. Coach Little is very thankful for this honor and is very proud of the accomplishment of her team. “We had a very young team this season, but will build off of the success we did have”, said Little.

Next year looks very promising, as many of the returning players have shown great improvement this year. The key to a successful season next year will be work the returning players put in on the off-season. Coach Little said that most of the team will participate in travel ball this summer. Travel ball will help jump start the 2024-25 season and help build much needed confidence in the Metro League.

Players to watch next year besides Lee, Arana, and Brookins will be junior Emily Collins, junior Addison Bradybaugh, freshman Tiah Kennedy, sophomore Jazmine Glenn and freshman Izzy Nersisyan.  In the pitching department Cordova will have returning players Lee, freshman Isabella Tarpley-Cruz, freshman Briana Corianna and Bradybaugh. As we all know, pitching is a major key to the success of any team and these players will need to put in extra work during the summer building their pitching skills.

Cordova traveled to Bella Vista high school in Fair Oaks to compete in the first round of the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Softball Playoffs on May 14.  Cordova, who competed all year in Division IV, was the 15th seed after being elevated to Division II for the playoffs. They didn’t bring their much needed “A” game and fell to the 2nd seeded Bronco’s 10-0. Next year the Lancers will be competing all year in Division II and if by chance they make it to the playoffs, will be competing in Division II. I wish the team and the coaches all the best as they move on to their next challenge. 

GO BIG RED!