No. 2 seed Crescenta Valley softball upset in heartbreaking fashion
Throughout the season, the Crescenta Valley High softball team excelled on defense en route to winning a second straight Pacific League championship.
Crescenta Valley looked to continue that trend after earning the second seed in the CIF Southern Section Division III playoffs.
Things didn’t pan out on defense for Crescenta Valley, which committed an eye-popping seven errors in a 9-8 road loss against El Modena in a second-round contest on Tuesday.
The end result left Crescenta Valley shocked after seeing its season cut short while attempting to win the program’s first CIF title since 1986.
Crescenta Valley (25-3) opened with a big lead before falling behind and then scored three runs in the top of the seventh to tie it at 8 before El Modena (14-15) won it in the bottom of the seventh.
“Right now, it’s very disappointing,” Crescenta Valley coach Amanda Peek said. “We played real strong defense throughout the year and then we made seven errors today.
“You can’t win a game making seven errors, especially in a playoff game. It’s probably our worst game of the year.”
El Modena, which finished tied for second with Foothill in the Crestview League, scored five runs in the fifth to take an 8-5 lead.
Crescenta Valley, which began the playoffs with a 15-1 win against Knight on Thursday, received a two-run double from Dee Dee Hernandez in the seventh to cut the deficit to 8-7. Kristy Taix followed with an RBI double to knot it at 8.
“We battled back in the seventh and we thought we were in a good situation,” said Peek, whose team had won six games in a row. “We got those big hits from Dee Dee and Kristy, but they got a run in the bottom of the inning.”
Crescenta Valley scored two runs in the first to take a 2-0 lead. El Modena scored twice in the first to make it 2-2.
The Falcons scored three runs in the second to make it 5-2.
Crescenta Valley received two hits from Devon Medina and Alyssa Hernandez and Natalie Bitetti each scored two runs.
Twitter: @TCNCharlesRich
