West Hills Claims Hills League Behind Balanced Attack

By Adam Paul
Updated: May 15, 2025

2025 EAST COUNTY PREP SOFTBALL

By Adam Paul

GROSSMONT HILLS LEAGUE

WEST HILLS 8, VALHALLA 0 – On the last day of the regular season the West Hills Wolf Pack cruised to the victory with their scoring of eight runs over first four innings on Thursday afternoon to claim the road victory over Valhalla.

West Hills with the victory claimed the Hills League crown outright and also claimed their fourth league crown in row with the last three being from the Valley League. This years Hills League title is their first since 2015 when they finished 7-1 in league which also was an outright title.

The Wolf Pack knowing they only had to win to win the title outright went to business in the top of the first inning. Starting the damage was Katy Spargo who lined a base hit to center field scoring both Kristina Deal and Reegan Veltre, a couple of batters later with one out Sofie Jo Grosch would come into score on a wild pitch and with two outs Gianna Burgin drove in Lili Leija to make it 4-0.

The Pack would go onto extend their lead in the top of the second inning behind RBI fielder’s choices by both Leija and Burgin. They would add another run in the top of the third inning on an RBI single by Spargo and would add their final run in the top of the fourth inning.

Ava Goodman who drew the start for the Pack would pick up the win. On the day she allowed zero runs on one hit over seven innings in which she walked three and struck out seven.

Devyn Mack for Valhalla took the loss as she allowed eight runs on twelve hits over seven innings in which she walked three and struck out five.

The only hit on the day for the Norsemen came in the bottom of the second inning on a base hit by Emma Sloan.

Valhalla with the loss ends their season with a 7-21 record overall and 1-9 in league while West Hills who has won two in a row finishes the regular season 17-9-1 overall and 8-2 in league and now will wait to see where they will land in the Division II playoffs. As of right now they are in the fourth spot according to the current power rankings which would give them a first round bye and a home game.

STEELE CANYON 8, SANTANA 4 – Five runs in the bottom of the fifth inning by the Steele Canyon Cougars helped to complete the come from behind home victory over the Santana Sultans on Thursday afternoon.

Santana early on would lead 3-0 thanks to a double by Bella Zuckerman in the top of the second inning with two outs that brought home Emma Schneider. They would follow up with a pair of runs in the top of the third inning thanks to Alyssa Cipro who was able to drive in Vanessa Ryan and later in the inning Schneider would hit a fly ball that allowed Kaylee Lindahl to tag up from third base and race home for the score.

The Cougars though in the bottom half of the inning would take the momentum thanks to Ily Barclay who singled in Dannika Lakin which was followed by a sacrifice fly by Hailey Trujillo to score Kayala Hopkins and with two outs Marina Gonzalez tied the game with a base hit to right field bringing in Barclay.

Steele Canyon would take their first lead in the bottom of the fifth inning on an error by the Sultans that allowed Hopkins to score making it 4-3, a couple of batters later with one out Isabella Azevedo would score on a passed ball and Belle will would drive in Trujillo who had reached on the error and Lakin followed up later in the inning with an RBI single to round out the scoring.

Payton Sos who started for the Cougars earned the win as she went all seven innings in which she allowed four runs on seven hits while walking one and striking out four.

Santana finishes the regular season 15-10 overall and 5-5 in league play while Steele Canyon finishes 15-12-1 overall and 7-3 in league.

Both teams will now wait to see where they will be seeded in their respective divisions for the playoffs.

EL CAPITAN 4, GRANITE HILLS 1 – The El Capitan Vaqueros overcame a first inning run by the Granite Hills Eagles to claim the road victory on Thursday afternoon to end the regular season.

The lone run by Granite Hills would come after a couple of errors by the Vaqueros followed by a passed ball which was followed by a second passed ball that allowed Taylor Nash to come into score to make it 1-0.

It wouldn’t be until the top of the fourth inning that the Vaqueros would finally wake up offensively and tie the game on an RBI single by Ryleigh Vesco to score Brynlie Ford, the following batter Hailey Koury Sweigart would hit a ball that was misplayed by the Eagles that allowed Vesco to come in and give them a 2-1 lead. They would add another run in the top of the fifth on an error by the Eagles.

Later in the top of the seventh inning El Capitan would round out their scoring when Ciara Bernardini drove in Sofia Simone.

Addison Higuera who started for the Vaqueros earned the win as she went all seven innings in which she allowed one run on two hits while walking one and striking out eight.

Kaleigh Baugher who came into the game in relief for the Eagles would take the loss as she allowed two runs on two hits over three innings in which she walked one and struck out four.

El Capitan who is peaking at the right time finishes up 15-13 overall and 5-5 in league play and on a three game winning streak while the Granite Hills Eagles drop their third straight to finish 7-18-1 overall and 3-7 in league.

On another note the Granite Hills Eagles it was reported are ineligible for the CIF playoffs due to an ineligible player and had to forfeit a number of contests in the beginning of the season.