Scotties rally, share crown with El Cap
- Updated: May 13, 2022
2022 EAST COUNTY PREP SOFTBALL
By Tyler Gribble
Special to ECS.com
LAKESIDE —The visiting Helix Highlanders played the partial role of spoiler while helping their own cause, downing Grossmont Hills League leader El Capitan to secure a share of the league championship on Thursday (May 12th) the final day of the regular season.
The decision placed a small damper on the Vaqueros, who had hoped to capture the title outright on its Senior Day. Still, under head coach Joe Cota, El Capitan has now captured its seventh crown since 2012 after not winning any hardware over a 17-year stretch.
For the Scotties, it was their second straight pennant — both under head coach Darren Emery — and the school’s fifth this century. However, they needed to take the long route to collect it. trailing 2-0 going into the late innings before scoring six times in the sixth inning to strike their claim.
The Vaqueros offense struck early against Helix’s starting pitcher Sophia Ramuno. Alyssa Fierro led off the bottom of the first with a single, and Ava Gall followed with a fly ball into the right-field corner for a three-base error, scoring Fierro. Senior Maddie Taylor added one more run with a single into center, giving El Cap the early 2-0 lead.
Senior Brooke Horn got the pitching start for the Vaqueros and kept the visitors in check through five innings before the Highlander offense finally broke through in the sixth. Lauren Farace led the inning off with a triple, followed by an Angel Riggins double to bring her home. After an error at shortstop, Ramuno stepped in with runners on the corners and singled to score Riggins and tie the game. Helix then took the lead, thanks to another infield error. The Highlanders fourth run scored on a groundout by Kiana Lee Brown, and a subsequent error brought home one more. Farace followed with her second hit of the inning, scoring Ivy Greene and giving Helix the 6-2 lead.
After getting roughed up in the first inning, Highlander pitcher Sophia Ramuno settled in and kept the Vaqueros scoreless the rest of the way, scattering six hits across the final six innings. Ramuno finished with six strikeouts to one walk en route to her seventeenth win on the season. For the Vaqueros, senior Brooke Horn was saddled with the loss, giving up six runs, two of which were earned, while allowing nine hits and striking out five.
El Capitan’s graduating seniors are Maddie Taylor, Hailey Mulligan, and Brooke Horn.
Following the result, both teams finish the season with an 8-2 league record, sharing the championship as they last did in 2016 and 2017, when the teams occupied the Grossmont Valley League.
Helix (20-7 overall, 8-2 GHL) and El Capitan (also 20-7, 8-2 GHL) will wait for Saturday’s announcement on seedings and pairings for the CIF San Diego Section championships.
