Bulldogs win league softball championship
Ramona High School’s softball team concluded Valley League play with a 10-0 record to provide the Bulldogs with their third consecutive league championship.
“The amount of runs that we scored shows how good our lineup is,” said coach Kristina Wright. “I was definitely proud of them all year.”
A 9-1 victory May 13 at Fallbrook concluded league and regular-season play for Ramona, whose overall record for the 2016 regular season was 25-3.
“We had a very good year,” Wright said.
Ramona’s season was extended during the May 14 CIF playoff seeding and selection meeting. The Bulldogs were seeded second in the Open Division.
“I think we that have enough talent to get us to the championship,” Wright said.
The Bulldogs have a May 18 home game against Torrey Pines. A Ramona win will give the Bulldogs a home game Saturday against the winner of the first-round contest between San Marcos and Carlsbad.
Ramona had two road shutout wins May 4 at Mission Vista and May 6 at Orange Glen. The final score of the game at Mission Vista was 10-0.
Hanah Bowen allowed one hit and no walks in the seven-inning game and struck out nine batters, and Sarah Whelehon had a double and a triple while driving in four runs. The mercy rule is applied if a team leads by at least 10 runs after five innings, and the 22-0 score after five innings at Orange Glen ended that game. Ten different Bulldogs scored at least one run against the Patriots while Alissa Hiener struck out nine Patriots batters and allowed only two hits.
May 10 was a rainout makeup date for Ramona, who hosted Rancho Buena Vista in a North County Tournament game. RBV had a final regular-season record of 20-8-1, and one of those losses was the 1-0 game May 10.
“They were really put to the test,” Wright said of the game against the Longhorns. “They have a very good pitcher. It was something that we haven’t seen in a while.”
Ramona returned to league play May 11 with a home game against Valley Center. The Senior Day ceremonies prior to the game honored Hiener, Whelehon, Haley Brinker and Ashley Dowers.
“The excitement was there,” Wright said.
The excitement also involved the league championship. Ramona accounted for Valley Center’s only league loss before the May 11 game so a Jaguars win would have created a tie for the league championship while a Bulldogs victory meant an outright Ramona league title.
“We knew that it was going to be a tough game,” Wright said.
Valley Center took a 2-0 lead in the top of the third inning, but Ramona was on the desired end of the 7-4 final score.
“Offensively I think the team did very well making adjustments,” Wright said.
That victory clinched the league championship for Ramona and allowed Wright to provide her bench players with more action against Fallbrook.
“The girls that did get some playing time did a very good job,” Wright said of the win over the Warriors.
In 2013 the CIF transitioned from playoff divisions based on school enrollment to divisions based on competitive balance. A revision to the format delayed the split between the Open Division and Division I to the end of the regular season with the top eight Division I teams playing in the Open Division playoffs and the other Division I teams competing in the Division I post-season competition.
“It’s going to be a tough road for us,” Wright said of playing in the Open Division. “It will be a good test for them. They’re excited and ready to play.”