Holy Family softball can’t climb over Frazier Mountain

LOS ANGELES — That the Holy Family High School softball team qualified for the playoffs is a victory unto itself.

Considering there are no seniors on the Gaels’ team and only one junior, that’s a whole lot of freshmen and sophomores taking the field.

Thus, there may indeed be a silver lining underneath Tuesday afternoon’s postseason loss.

“I know because I’ve seen it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year how they’ve progressed in so many ways,” said Holy Family sophomore shortstop Ginnes Paladini. “They’ve developed a lot. If this continues it’s going to progress and by the time I’m a senior, we’ll do well.”

Holy Family fell to Frazier Mountain, 17-4, in a CIF Southern Section Division VI wild card game at Rio de Los Angeles State Park.

The Gaels finished the season 6-15 overall after going 3-5 in the Horizon League to finish third.

Holy Family coach Greg Ziomek hopes that his team learned from their mistakes this year. He also wants them to start learning from the better teams they’ve faced, such as the Falcons.

“When we play a better team, a more experienced team, to watch that other team and try to pick up from them what they’re doing so well, how they’re playing, and make that part of their game,” Ziomek said.

The contest was never really in doubt. Frazier Mountain (15-7) put five runs on the board in the first inning and by the end of the fourth was ahead, 13-1.

Despite the score, the Gaels had plenty of opportunities. They combined for nine hits and three walks, but left 11 runners on base.

“I think that’s part of our youth,” Ziomek said. “We take it this far and whether we break focus or we get uptight, I think it’s part of our youth, part of our immaturity. We don’t relax into the situation. We feel the pressure.”

Coming back from a fever last week, Holy Family starting pitcher Amy Brennan struck out four.

“I felt pretty good,” Brennan said. “I was struggling in some innings, but I feel I bounced back with a couple of strikeouts.”

Paladini paced Holy Family with three hits, two RBIs and a run scored.

Ziomek hopes to see improvement as his team matures in the coming years.

“Being so young, we backed into the playoffs somehow,” Ziomek said. “If we keep improving and we keep going on the curve that we ought to go, that’s a positive.”