Powell’s big day for Sultans against cross-town rival leads to league title

By Adam Paul
Updated: May 12, 2026

2026 EAST COUNTY PREP SOFTBALL

By Adam Paul

SANTEE (5-12-26) – Knowing they had to win to keep their share of the league crown, the Santana Sultans, behind junior Hailee Powell, who came up big with 4 RBIs on four hits, rebounded with an 11-4 victory over crosstown rival West Hills to finish out Grossmont Hills league play on Tuesday afternoon.

The Sultans, who came into the game needing some momentum after dropping a battle for first place game the other day against Steele Canyon, started their scoring early on, thanks to Ashlyn Darrow, who launched a solo home run to center field, and later in the inning, with two outs, Powell drove in Paityn Miller to make it 2-0.

Santana would add to their lead in the top of the second inning thanks to Shannon Davey, who hit a sacrifice fly, Kylee Aziz, who singled to left field down the line, and Darrow, who ripped a double to center field, each bringing home in a run to give them a 5-0 lead.

Paityn Miller would extend the lead for the Sultans in the top of the fourth inning for a two-run blast her fifth of the season and a 7-0 lead.

Later in the sixth inning Kaylee Lindahl would drive in a run, and Powell would belt a three run blast to right field for the third home run of the game for Santana.

Despite amassing 12 hits in the game the Wolf Pack only managed to push across four runs thanks to Carsyn Calunga, Amber Foley, and Maddie Aylesbury who each drove in a run. Sophia Zayac went 3-for-3 at the plate while Lili Leija had a pair of hits.

Jaedyn Craw who started for West Hills would take the loss as she allowed five runs on nine hits over two and one-third of an inning. Aylesbury came into the game in relief for the Pack as she went four and two-thirds innings in which she allowed six runs eight hits while walking two and striking out one.

Picking up the win for the Sultans was starter Alexis Buquet who over five and two-thirds innings allowed four runs on twelve hits while walking one and striking out two. Darrow came into the game in relief and tossed two innings in which she allowed no runs and no hits while walking two.

West Hills, with the loss, has now dropped three in a row and falls to 9-16 overall and 1-6 in league, and will finish out the regular season against El Capitan on Thursday.

Santana, with the victory, improves to 15-11 overall and 6-2 in Grossmont Hills league play, and a first-place tie with the Steele Canyon Cougars. The Sultans will finish out their regular season with a non-league contest against Patrick Henry on Thursday.

GAME NOTES – The win by Santana Sultans allows them to clinch a share of the Grossmont League title for the first time since 2013 and also their ninth league crown since the MaxPreps era started in 2005. It is also the first time since 2019 that the Sultans have swept their cross-town rivals. Prior to the two wins this season, the Wolf Pack had won three straight against the Sultans, including sweeping them last season.

EL CAPITAN 6, GRANITE HILLS 4 – Despite committing five errors and being down 4-0 late, the El Capitan Vaqueros stormed their way with six runs scored over the fifth and sixth innings to rally for the Grossmont Hills league victory on Thursday afternoon against the visiting Granite Hills Eagles.

Senior Kylee Frazier of the Vaqueros came up big in the comeback victory as she tallied a 4-for-4 day at the plate, including an RBI single in the bottom of the sixth inning to give the Vaqueros an insurance run.

Scoring in the game wouldn’t occur until the top of the fourth inning when Kaylanii Caple grounded out to bring home Iliana Cruse to make it 1-0.

Granite Hills would add to their lead in the top of the fifth inning thanks to a two-out error by the Vaqueros that led to Olivia Cirar scoring, which was followed by another error, leading to Taylor Nash and Ariana Heninger both coming into score to make it 4-0.

After a pair of one-out singles by Isabella Farris and Sofia Simone, a couple of batters later with two outs, Frazier would knock in Farris, which was followed by a two-run scoring error by the Eagles that allowed both Simone and Frazier to plate, which cut the lead to 4-3. Later in the inning, Addison Higuera would race home on a wild pitch to tie the game at 4-4.

With the score tied up, the Vaqueros in the bottom of the sixth inning would take advantage of another error by the Eagles with two outs, which allowed Bailey Evans to score to give the Vaqueros their first lead of the game, which was followed by Frazier knocking in Gwen Hill for an insurance run and what would be enough to give them the victory.

Allie Amison started for the Eagles. The hurler allowed 10 hits and six runs over six innings, in which she walked one and struck out one.

For the Vaqueros, Mackenna Burton earned the win as she went all seven innings, in which she gave up four runs on eight hits while walking two and striking out two.

Shea Benson went 2-for-2 to lead the Eagles at the plate.

El Capitan accumulated 10 hits on the day.

Granite Hills with the loss falls to 8-14 overall and finishes out league play at 3-5. They will finish out their regular season on Thursday against Grossmont in non-league play.

El Capitan improves to 12-11 overall and is 3-4 in league and will finish out the regular season against the West Hills Wolf Pack on Thursday afternoon.