2 SLO County softball teams win CIF titles while baseball finishes with runner-up

Two San Luis Obispo County softball teams won CIF-Central Section titles over Memorial Day weekend, both excelling in the clutch at Fresno State University where the championship games took place.

Playing in a CIF-Central Section final game for the fourth straight year, No. 1 Mission Prep (15-8-1) won its Division 4 final 11-2 on Saturday over No. 3 Pioneer Valley (13-13).

And No. 8 Nipomo (15-14) won its Division 6 title game against No. 2 Avenal on Friday by a score of 8-1. On their path to the championship, the Titans knocked out two other Central Valley teams on the road earlier in the postseason, beating No. 1 Lindsay 2-0 and No. 4 Riverdale 14-0.

Meanwhile, Atascadero’s baseball team finished runner-up after knocking out the No. 1-seed in an earlier round. Separately, in track and field, Atascadero’s Keira Taylor won the CIF Central Masters meet’s discus competition with a throw of 139’7.

Mission Prep wins in commanding fashion

Royals Coach Johnnie Martinez said the Royals set out from the beginning of the year to win it all.

“For the senior girls, this was their fourth year in a row being in a championship game and they went out on a high note,” Martinez said. “And the new girls coming in really gelled.”

Martinez said the team played a nearly flawless game, led by the dominant performance of Roxanne Guerra, a senior pitcher who threw seven innings, striking out 11 while giving up two earned runs on four hits. Guerra also went 3-for-3 at the plate with three RBI and a double.

“(Guerra) was lights out today,” Martinez said. “Her determination for this game, and from the beginning of playoffs, came with the mentality of ‘We’re not going to lose.’”

Sophomore Violet D’Orazio-Lelli was 2-for-3 with two RBI and two runs scored. Rylinn MacDonald, who will play at Wheaton College next year, also added two hits in the game. Brooklyn Neenan and Savannah Ruelas also each added a couple of hits en route to a 12-hit Royals offensive attack.

“Everything we talked about all year, we worked on and all the adjustments, the players put it all together at the right time in the perfect setting to have one of their best games,” Martinez said.

The majority of the Royals’ team played at Fresno State in the title games the last couple of years, Martinez said. The Royals won CIF-Central Section’s Division 6 playoff in 2021, and posted runner-up finishes the past two years.

“We as coaches didn’t even talk about the atmosphere because they’ve been there, they know what it’s about,” Martinez said. “And they showed the younger players that this is the same stage, just in a different place.”

Mission Prep also finished first in the regular season in the Sunset League at 8-3-1.

Nipomo comes out on top

Titans Coach Robert Oliver said Nipomo overcame a rough start, losing the first seven games of the season, to bounce back in thrilling fashion.

“It was a really amazing feeling; it was a really rough start to our season,” Oliver said. “We had some injuries at key positions and just had teach a new squad how to play. It started out really challenging, but by the end of the year, they started playing some pretty good ball.”

The Titans went on to finish 11-4, finishing second in Ocean League.

In the final three postseason contests, freshman pitcher Ava Camacho threw complete games, shutting out No. 1 Lindsay 2-0 while striking out 13; followed by a 14-0 win over Riverdale, recording 12 punchouts; and Camacho added 10 strikeouts in the 8-1 championship victory over Avenal.

“She’s a legit pitcher,” Oliver said. “When she got healthy this season, it was great to see what she could do. It was pretty impressive. She has a variety of pitches to mess with the hitters’ timing and really good control.”

Camacho was 2-for-4 at the plate with a double and an RBI over Avenal; Ava’s cousin Alie Camacho slugged three triples amid a 4-for-5 day, scoring three runs with an RBI.

Alie Camacho, a sophomore catcher, converted to the position from outfield as a freshman and handled the wicked spin and fastballs flung by Kate Barnett, who graduated last year, and now is starring at Long Beach State. Barnett posted a 3.82 ERA and 7-5 record in her first year in college ball.

“We didn’t have anybody else really who could do the job last year and Alie has developed into a really good catcher for us,” Oliver said.

Oliver said the season turned around also as the team’s defense improved.

“We had the physical tools,” Oliver said. “We just had to calm down and stop making panicked decisions. The big thing was just to have a plan before the ball gets put into play.”

C.J. Arias, a senior, led the team in hitting on the season with a .419 average, and six players hit over .300 on the year.

Atascadero baseball makes postseason run

The No. 9 Greyhounds (20-11) lost in their Divison 2 final bid 4-2 to Bakersfield Christian after beating No. 1 Cabrillo 3-2 and No. 5 St. Joseph 9-7 in earlier rounds.

Atascadero’s Damon Mitchell went 2-for-3 with a run in the title game. Jack Thompson threw four scoreless innings and struck out four.

Drew Cappel homered in Atascadero’s upset over Cabrillo on May 16. The Greyhounds won in the eighth inning to break the extra inning tie. Cappel was 2-for-4 against St. Joseph as well and Mitchell roped a double in that game and had two RBI.

Mitchell hit .354 on the season, while Cappel tallied a .351 mark, and Jarom Damery, a senior, hit .353.

Cappel, also a senior, ended his season with a 7-1 record, and a 1.75 ERA on the mound.