Sneddon drives In five to help propel Sultans one step further to league crown

By Adam Paul
Updated: April 28, 2026

2026 EAST COUNTY PREP SOFTBALL

By Adam Paul

SANTEE (4-28-26) – Santana Junior Gabby Sneddon’s big day at the plate that included five RBI leads the way in the convincing victory over the visiting Steele Canyon by a score of 12-0 to claim the Grossmont Hills League contest in five innings on Tuesday afternoon.

Sneddon led the Sultans’ hit attack, who as a team wracked up 11 hits on the day as she went 3-for-5, including a fifth-inning inside-the-park home run that scored three runs and a two-run single in the fourth inning.

Leading 1-0 in the bottom of the second inning, the Sultans would push across a pair of runs courtesy of Alyssa Cipro, who grounded out to score Sneddon and later Paityn Miller walked which brought home Bryleigh Britza and Shannon Davey scored on a passed ball to give them a 3-0 lead.

After Kaitlyn Ruckle knocked in a run in the bottom of the third inning the Sultans would go onto add four more in the bottom of the fourth inning to extend their lead to 9-0. Samantha Mora belted her third home run of the season a solo shot to left field, Sneddon drove in a pair, and Hailee Powell drove in a run.

Ashlyn Darrow drew the start and would earn the win which was her seventh of the season. On the day she would allow zero runs on one hit over five innings in which she walked three and struck out four.

Belle Will, who started for Steele Canyon, took the loss as she allowed four runs (three earned) on two hits over one and two-thirds innings in which she walked five and struck out two.

The lone hit for the Cougars came courtesy of Avigail Hendricks who went 1-for-2 on the day.

Steele Canyon, with the loss, sees its four-game winning streak come to an end and falls to 12-11 overall and is now tied for second place in league with Granite Hills with a 2-2 record.

Santana, with the win, extends their winning streak to six games and moves to 13-9 overall and remains unbeaten in league with a 4-0 record and in the process moves one step closer to claiming their first league crown since 2013.

EL CAPITAN 9, WEST HILLS 6 – Despite a late rally by the visiting West Hills Wolf Pack, the El Capitan Vaqueros prevailed on Tuesday afternoon in Grossmont Hills League action.

Early on, the Wolf Pack started the scoring thanks to a base hit by Sophia Zayac and also took advantage of an error by the Vaqueros to lead 2-0 in the top of the second inning.

The momentum would change to the Vaqueros’ side as they pushed across four runs in the bottom of the third inning. Leading the scoring charge with two outs Addison Higuera, who would drive in Ciara Bernardini and later Bailey Evans, cleared the bases with a three-run double, scoring Higuera, Cassidy Sterling, and Quinnley Morehouse to give them a 4-2 lead.

After Bernardini drove in Sofia Simone in the fourth inning to make it 5-2, Higuera would extend the lead for the Vaqueros in the bottom of the fifth inning when she blasted her fourth home run, a solo shot over the left field fence to make it 6-2.

El Capitan would go on to score three more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, thanks to Kylee Frazier, who drove in a run, and an error would lead to both Simone and Frazier scoring to give them a 9-2 lead.

West Hills, though wouldn’t go down in the top of the seventh inning, starting with leadoff hitter Lili Leija singling to center, the next batter Reegan Veltre is hit by a pitch, which puts runners at first and second. Both runners would advance on a fielder’s choice by Carsyn Colunga, who came into pinch hit, and Colunga would be safe. The next batter, Katy Spargo, came up and belted her ninth home run of the season, a grand slam home run to left field to bring the Pack within 9-6.

The three-run deficit would be the closest the Wolf Pack would get, as Higuera would eventually, after walking a batter, retire the final batters needed to stop the threat and end the game.

West Hills, with the loss, drops its fourth game in a row and falls to 8-13 overall and 1-3 in league play.

El Capitan snaps their two-game losing streak and evens their record at 10-10 overall and 1-3 in league play.

GROSSMONT VALLEY LEAGUE

HELIX 19, MOUNT MIGUEL 1 (5 INN.) – The Helix Highlanders, on Tuesday afternoon, behind a 20-hit attack, claimed their tenth win a row to improve to 18-1 on the season and remain unbeaten in league play at 4-0.

Helping the cause on Tuesday afternoon was Nikayla Domingo, who went 4-for-4 at the plate and drove in 4 RBI. Starting in the first inning, she singled, doubled in the second, singled in the third inning, and again in the fifth inning.

Starting pitcher Vivienne Munoz collected her tenth victory of the season against only one loss, in which she allowed one hit and one run while striking out 11 over five innings of work.

Helix really blew the scoring open in the top of the second inning, thanks to six runs on five hits. Logan McMahon drove in a run, Sabrina Ramuno singled in a run, Lillianna Benabdeljalil doubled in a pair, and Domingo doubled in a pair.

Next up for the Highlanders is Patrick Henry on Wednesday, which will help boost their power rankings for when it comes to playoff seeding in a couple of weeks.