The Lady Brahmas softball team showed major improvement from last season, advancing  to the second round of CIF playoffs and ending their season in a memorable way.

The team had a consistent record throughout the entire season, with an overall record of 18-7 and a league record of 11-4.

On May 7, the girls played Mira Costa in Manhattan Beach, hoping to bring home another win and move on to the next CIF round, but their journey had ended there with a valiant 4-2 loss.  

The softball team has not competed in CIF in five years and has not made it to the second round in 13 years, so qualifying for CIF this year was a large accomplishment for the team.

“Comparing last season to this season shows that we’ve made a lot of progress, and we’re hoping to continue it through next year,” junior Liliana Ruvalcaba said.

 In their first CIF game on May 2, they completely dominated the team from Santa Monica,  7-1 in a home game, sending them to round two.

“Any time that it’s been a while since you’ve been in the playoffs, it’s difficult. Next year, with a little bit of playoff experience that we learned this year, I think that we’ll be able to take a few more steps in that direction that we want to go,” softball coach Kurt Davies said.

Before their CIF playoff games began, the girls played their last three league games, one against Don Lugo and two against Montclair.

The girls suffered a heartbreaking loss against the formidable Don Lugo High School team, losing 9-1, but quickly came back when they won against Montclair twice, first 8-1 and then 7-1.

“The girls have a great attitude, they did last year also, but any time that there is a change in leadership, it takes a while to get into a routine and to know what’s expected of you and we hope that every year we just get better,” said Davies, in his second year as coach.

All of the girls contributed to the success of the team and they hope to keep up the good work throughout next year.

Some key players (who have given the Brahmas consistency in terms of games played) include junior  catcher Emily Ruhl, sophomore pitcher Alexis Martinez and freshman Tiffany Pope.

“Softball is a team game, everybody’s going to contribute. You are only as strong as your weakest link, which is why we try to focus on executing as a team, not just on an individual basis,” Davies said.