CIF D3: Scotties make history, earn first-ever softball crown

By Adam Paul
Updated: May 28, 2026

2026 San Diego CIF Division II champion Helix Highlanders

2026 EAST COUNTY PREP SOFTBALL
CIF-San Diego Section Championships

By Adam Paul

#2 HELIX 6, #1 BRAWLEY 2

SAN DIEGO STATE – (4-28-26) – Playing in front of a big crowd on a college field can be nerve-racking, but on Thursday evening, the second-seeded Helix Highlanders put the nerves away as they took advantage of various opportunities, including a pair of errors, to dispatch top-seeded Brawley and claim the San Diego Section CIF Division II crown by a score of 6-2.

With both teams one and two going chalk through the playoffs, not losing a single game, the collision course was on as both programs were looking to make history in winning their very first ever CIF championship title.

Early on the Helix Highlanders dusted off the cobwebs as they would draw first thanks to an induced groundball out by Ella Aguayo which led to a run scoring to make it 1-0.

Brawley though would even the score in the bottom of the second inning when Kiana Adame flew out, allowing the run to come in and tie the game at 1-1.

Helix in the top of the third inning would take advantage of the opportunities presented to them after it looked like they would come away with nothing. With two outs the Highlanders would draw back-to-back walks after Nikaylah Domingo, who had singled, would steal both second and third base. With the bases full, freshman Amara Okafor came through in a huge spot as she laced a single to right field that brought home a pair of runs to give them a 3-1 lead.

Now trailing by a pair of runs, the Wildcats came right back with a lead double followed by a single to start the bottom of the third inning. The following batter would fly out to center, which was deep enough for the runner from third to tag up and race home to make it 3-2.

Like her fellow freshman Okafor coming through in a big spot in the third inning, Naleia Medina in the top of the sixth inning would pick a great time for her first round tripper of the season as she crushed a two-out solo shot deep to center field to push the Highlander lead to 4-2.

Helix would tack on another pair of runs in the top of the seventh inning to round out their scoring courtesy of an error by the Wildcats and an RBI single by Aguayo.

Brawley starter Daniela Yescas would be tagged with the loss as she allowed six runs (four earned) on eight hits over seven innings, in which she walked two and struck out one.

Starter Lea Moya, who is only a sophomore for the Highlanders, didn’t show any sign of inexperience as she settled down after giving up the two runs in the second and third innings on her way to improving her record to 10-1 overall and in the game allowed two runs (one earned) on four hits over seven innings in which she walked one and struck out three.

Okafor with the big bat led the Highlanders as she went 3-4 with a double and two RBI.. Sabrina Ramuno, also a freshman, had a pair of hits and scored twice while Aguayo drove in a pair of runs.

On the other side for the Wildcats, Kaitlyn Castro went 2-4 while Roslyn Rubio and Kiana Adame drove in a run.

Brawley, with the loss, sees their five-game winning streak snapped and is now 19-11 overall. With the loss, the Wildcats are now 0-3 in San Diego CIF Section Championship games.

Helix with the victory continues their hot streak as they push their winning streak to five games in a row and improve to 24-4 overall, which is currently the second-best record in school history and also the second-most victories in school history. They will get a chance to add to their win total in next week’s Southern California Regionals.

In only her second year as head coach, Molly Sturdivant leads the program to its first-ever San Diego CIF Championship and is now 1-2 in championship game appearances, with the last appearance in 2021, the first season coming out of COVID, in which they lost to Otay Ranch 4-0 in the CIF Division II title game. Prior to 2021, the Highlanders hadn’t appeared in a title game since 1976, when they lost the Class 2A CIF title game 2-1 to Hilltop.

Helix can also take its name off the list of Grossmont District schools that have never won a San Diego CIF Softball Championship. The only remaining school to never have won a CIF Softball championship is El Cajon Valley, which has never appeared in a championship game.

Finally, with the victory, not only can they take their name off the list of Grossmont District schools to never have won a San Diego CIF Softball Championship, but the Highlanders can now add to their name to the list of Grossmont schools that have claimed CIF championships in all of the major sports, which include baseball, boys’ and girls’ basketball, and softball.