Cougars grab GHL lead; titles to Liberty Charter, Borrego Sp.

By Nick Pellegrino
Updated: May 12, 2026

2026 EAST COUNTY PREP SOFTBALL

East County Sports.com

Grossmont Hills League
Steele Canyon 10, Santaa 2
Non-League
Steele Canyon 8, Ramona 4
At Jamul: On an afternoon of make-up games, Steele
Canyon was in an unusual situation: one game was a
must-win situation, while the other didn’t
mean much excel to bolster their computer power
index (rating).

No problem — they won both.

After downing Ramona in a non-league affair, the
Cougars busted open a close contest with nine runs
over their final three trips to the plate to down
GHL leading Santana, 10-2.

The league victory moved Steele Canyon (16-11
overall) over the Sultans into first place by a
half-game. The Cougars are 6-2 in GHL action,
while Santana (15-11) sits at 5-2 with a game-in-
hand.

Despite just four total hits, Santana took a 2-1
leading the top of the fourth inning, but the
Cougars answered with four runs to secure full
control.

All of the Cougars run came on a single swing of
the bat, as Ily Barclay drilled a grand slam
right field, Scoring were Izabella Thomas,
Dannika Lakin and Ariana Angotti scores.

Two innings, later, Sophia Jackel clouted her
second homer for the contest, a three-run homer to
center, also bringing home Tevia Cohen and Payton
Sos.Jackel also lifted a solo shot to open the
scoring in the third.

Barclay and Jackel both finished with four RBI.

Both of Santana’s runs came on errors, as Cougars
winning pitcher Belle Will, a senior, struck out
seven Sultans batters without issuing a walk in her
complete-game effort.

Against Ramona, Steele Canyon built a 9-0 through
two innings to quickly down the Dawgs.

The Cougars utilized a majority of underclassmen,
with a trio of freshmen powering the offense.

sabella Damian led by driving in three runs, while
Leah Heinen and Mariel Hernandez each registered
a pair of RBI. Hernandez raised her batting
average to .341 for the season.

Giselle Zakar, a sophomore, and Hei,am both batted
2-for-3 and scored twice.

Standings: Steele Canyon 6-2, Santana 5-2, Granite
Hills 3-4, El Capitan 2-4, West Hills 1-5.

Manzanita League
Borrego Springs 18, Julian 3
At Borrego Springs: The host Rams clinched the
Manzanita League championship, giving the school a
rare softball-baseball title-teams double on
Senior Day.

Borrego Springs (12-8 overall) hold a 6-1 ;league
mark, one full game ahead of the Warner Wildcats
with one ballgame remaining.

It’s a remarkable turn-around for the Rams, which
finished dead-last at 1-7 last season. Still, the
title is the school’s fifth in six season since
the Covi-19 shutdown.

Standings: Borrego Springs 6-1, Warner 5-2,
Calipatria 3-3, , Julian 3-5, Vincent Memorial
Catholic 0-6.

Non-League
Liberty Charter 12, Classical 1 (5 inn.)
At Joan MacQueen Middle School, Alpine: The
Liberty Ch=arter Lions, which just clinched te
Summit League championship, didn’t look past
Classical Academy, routing the Caimans in five
innings.

After losing the shutout on an unearned run in
the fourth inning, the Lions immediately responded
with seven runs to mount a 10-1 advantage.

Lions senior pitcher Layla Montgomery fired a
four-hitter, striking out four Caimans batters.

The bats found Leah Donahue belting a triple,
while six others drove in runs, including a pair
by Adalyn Nothwang. Both are freshmen.

Summit League Standings: Liberty Charter 7-0,
Bonll 5-2, CVLCC 4-3, Mountain Empire 2-5,
Bayfront 0-8.