Undefeated Champs
AVC finishes unbeaten in conference
LANCASTER — The Antelope Valley College softball team had a lot to celebrate on Tuesday.
Before the game, the Marauders honored their two sophomores — Isabelle Gomez and Aricka Price.
Then, when the game was finished, AVC celebrated its undefeated Western State Conference championship after beating L.A. Valley 8-0 in five innings.
“I’m so proud of them,” AVC coach Cindy Vargas said. “What an amazing year so far. They’ve just battled and battled through injuries and illnesses and personal things and just really fought through and came together as a team and kind of found their groove as a team.
“They deserve to be undefeated. They’ve worked hard for it.”
The Marauders (31-9, 14-0 WSC) entered the bottom of the fifth leading 4-0, needing four runs to finish the game via the mercy rule.
Jessica Munoz started things off with a single to left field and moved to second on a groundout by Briana Garrett before being replaced by pinch runner Ariana Gonzales.
Kaitlyn Cronin followed with an RBI double down the left-field line and Pricilla Gomez Lopez hit a timely two-run home run to left field.
Camrynn Stanbro represented the game-ending run as she singled up the middle and was replaced by pinch runner Alyssa Tami. With Maritza Arroyo batting, Tami was already running when a pitch got away from L.A. Valley catcher Destiny Velasquez, giving Tami plenty of time to reach second safely.
Arroyo hit a double to the left-field gap and the speedy Tami scored the game-ending run.
“I was motivated,” Arroyo said. “I was like, ‘If I get this, then we mercy them,’” Arroyo said.
Arroyo finished 3-for-3 with two doubles, two RBIs and two runs scored.
“I felt like I was able to hit the outside pitch and the inside pitch very well,” Arroyo said.
It was a great feeling for the 12 freshmen to win the conference title in their first season at AVC.
“It’s really a dream come true,” Arroyo said. “You expect to go to college and this is what you want. The fact that I was able to have that, it’s just the world.”
Gomez Lopez was 2-for-3 with a double and a home run. Her double appeared to be a home run after bouncing off the yellow bar atop the fence, hitting the net in front of the scoreboard and popping back into play. But the umpires did not call it home run.
“She’s a beast right now,” Vargas said. “She’s hitting the ball so well. Her entire
swing is just beautiful. … Very, very proud of her.”
Munoz finished 2-for-2 with a sac bunt, while Cronin was 1-for-2 with a double and two RBIs.
Garrett pitched another shutout for the Marauders, allowing just one hit in the fourth inning, a double to Leslie Arreola, and three walks with 12 strikeouts. She has been playing through discomfort in her surgically-repaired knee after tweaking it on the base paths a couple of games ago. “I’ll be fine,” Garrett said. She was also 1-for-3 at the plate and was happy to help her team finish the season undefeated in conference.
“It’s the most amazing feeling to come back and get it undefeated,” Garrett said. “It was a big accomplishment for all of us, especially the sophomores.”
Garrett is currently second in the state in strikeouts with 263, 12 behind Bakersfield’s Kylee Fahy, who has 275.
“I’m getting one more step closer to No. 1,” Garrett said. “That would be a big accomplishment.”
Winning the conference championship undefeated was a great way to end the season for the sophomores, who finished second to College of the Canyons last season.
“It’s feels good, because we’re ending it with being undefeated and a league title, so it’s exciting,” said Price, who finished 1-for-1 with an RBI suicide squeeze bunt and an RBI single up the middle.
Gomez was 1-for-3 with a run.
“We started off with six sophomores and then we ended with two, but it’s still good,” she said. “It went better than I could have ever hoped for. I’m excited still that we get to keep going. That’s even more exciting.”
When the season is over, it will also be the end of Gomez and Price’s softball careers. Gomez hopes to start in the nursing program at AVC, while Price will study kinesiology for athletic training at Cal State Fullerton.
So, they want the season to go on for as long as possible.
“I feel like we’re growing as a team, so I’m excited for playoffs, because I think we just keep improving each game,” Price said.
Gomez said she will miss the family atmosphere the most.
“I’m just going to miss that it’s like a family and coach Mike and Cindy are great,” Gomez said. “They couldn’t be any better. They’re the best people, the best coaches, they have supported you in every decision you make in life, in softball. I’m going to miss the family aspect and then of course playing.”
Price agreed and said she will also miss coaches Cindy and Mike Vargas.
“I would say the support here,” Price said. “Other than them coaching the sport, I feel like they’ve been mentors to me, to everyone. They’re just great people and they listen and they help with everything outside of softball. They want us to be good people. They really put in a lot for this team. I’m definitely going to miss that, them, the whole team.”
The Marauders will begin the playoffs next Friday and are hoping to get a home series when the playoff seedings are announced on Saturday.
“It’s exciting to see how far they can go,” Vargas said.