RETURN OF THE SOFTBALL TITANS
Two years after hitting rock bottom, they’re back in Open Division playoffs
Two years ago, Poway High School experienced a miserable softball season, finishing 5-24.
“That 2021 season was so bad, we didn’t even have a postseason banquet,” Poway coach Jim Bennet said. “We just had sandwiches in the dugout after the last game.”
Two years later, the sun shines again on Poway.
The top-seeded Titans (25-3) will take on No. 5 Carlsbad today in the fourth round of the CIF-San Diego Section Open Division playoffs. Win, and they’ll advance to Saturday’s final.
The Titans’ 2021 struggles were disappointing given where the program was just a year earlier.
“I was so disappointed because the team we had in 2020 had 32 years of varsity experience,” Bennet said. “In 2020, we were going to be very, very good, maybe one of the three best teams in the section . ...
“They played five games (because of COVID-19) and that was it.”
The 2021 team returned one senior, infielder Katie Detamore. Five freshmen and four sophomores took over the team. All nine are still on the team.
Those Titans struggled. Poway opened that season by going 2-2 in the Cougar Classic at Kit Carson Park, posting wins over Coronado and La Costa Canyon. The Titans lost their next 13 games.
There was a 7-4 win over Grossmont to snap the losing streak, leaving the Titans with a 3-15 record.
Four losses later, Poway upset rival Rancho Bernardo 7-6 in nine innings on the road.
Another four losses and Poway took on Rancho Bernardo again in the annual Game at the Lake.
As the home team at Lake Poway, the Titans edged the Broncos again by the same 7-6 score.
“Those two games were the best moments of the whole season,” said senior Hailey Burns, who was a sophomore in 2021. “We’ll take two league wins from RB any day of the week.”
Added senior Miah Garcia: “We all have friends who play at RB, so there was a lot on the line. I’m still not sure how we beat them twice.”
The team finished 5-24, marking Bennet’s only losing season in a Poway career that has seen him post a 402-212-1 coaching record.
Poway rebounded in 2022, going 20-11-1, and is already sitting on 25 victories this year.
Bennet claimed his 400th win in the opening playoff game this season with an 8-1 victory over San Marcos.
Since hitting rock bottom, the Titans are 45-14-1.
“The whole time we looked to where we wanted to be, and that’s in the Open Division, where we
live,” Bennet said. “It’s huge for us to be the No. 1 seed in this year’s tournament after what we’ve been through two years ago.
“We went to work every day trying to do whatever it took to get back to Division I because you can’t be in the Open unless you’re playing in Division I.
“I tried to coach and play the same way we did when we were winning 20 games a season.”
Now, after winning the Palomar League title, the Titans are back.