The San Diego Section crowned seven divisional softball champions to cap its 2026 spring season. But that wasn’t exactly the end of the season for all the teams.
The four semifinalists in the Open Division qualified to compete in the ensuing three-round Southern California regional tournament. Also, the finalists in the Division I and champions in Division II through Division V also qualified.
Not everyone was available for, what for some, was post-graduation competition. Late season injuries besides graduation ceremonies also complicated participation.
Division I section champion Steele Canyon, Division I section runner-up Torrey Pines and Division II champion Carlsbad were among those teams that opted out, for instance.
A few other teams did squeak into the brackets, however, for a full complement of 10 section regional participants.
Five advanced from the opening quarterfinals and three advanced to regional championship games with semifinal victories.
The four East County regional participants included El Capitan (No. 7 seed in Division II), Helix Charter (No. 2 seed in Division III), Grossmont (No. 5 seed in Division IV) and Monte Vista (No. 3 seed in Division V).
The Division III section champion, Helix blew past seventh-seeded Covina, 14-7, in quarterfinal-round action on June 2 while Grossmont, the Division IV section runner-up, defeated No. 4 Arroyo, 7-4, on the road.
El Capitan (Division II semifinalist) and Monte Vista (Division V section champion) both failed to advance past the first round. El Capitan dropped a 9-4 road match at No. 2 Temecula Great Oak while Monte Vista, playing at home, came up short 9-6 to No. 6 San Bernardino.
Other section participants included Open Division section champion Mater Dei Catholic (No. 1 seed in Division I), Open Division runner-up Point Loma (No. 5 seed in Division I), Open Division semifinalist Del Norte (No. 8 seed in Division II), Division III section runner-up Brawley (No. 6 seed in Division III), Division IV section champion Madison (No. 1 seed in Division IV) and Division V section runner-up La Jolla (No. 5 seed in Division V).
Road to a championship
Facing elimination by a Point Loma team bent on revenge from its 5-3 loss to the Lady Crusaders in the San Diego Section Open Division championship game, top-seeded Mater Dei Catholic rallied from a 4-1 deficit with six runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to post a 7-4 over the Lady Pointers (24-10) on June 4, to reserve a berth in Saturday’s Division I Southern California regional championship game.
Senior Liana Quinones led the Mater Dei Catholic rally with two RBI in the regional semifinal. Senior Bella Harris, sophomore Ari Larios, junior Charlize Masingale (double) and senior Gigi Flores each had one RBI.
Junior Maya Matthies had two hits in the game and scored two runs while Harris, Quinones, juniors Anabelle Gallagher, Sunny Sosa and Christina Gonzalez each scored one run. Junior ironwoman Arri Romero pitched a complete game six-hitter with eight strikeouts.
Remington Spangler keyed Point Loma with a home run and three RBI. Leyton MacPherson drove in the Lady Pointers’ other run.
The visitors took a three-run lead in the top of the third inning and tacked on another run in the top of the sixth inning.
Romero improved her season record to 26-3 with a 1.06 ERA and 172 strikeouts in 171.1 innings.
The Lady Crusaders faced No. 2 La Habra in the regional final following the Lady Highlanders’ 8-7 over No. 6 Santa Fe Springs St. Paul (20-14) in the semifinals.
Mater Dei Catholic (31-3) emerged as the lone San Diego Section regional champion with a 3-0 win over La Habra (25-9).
Juniors Sunny Sosa and Masingale both had one RBI to boost the host team for Romero (complete game three-hitter).
Romero ended the season with a 27-3 record, 1.06 ERA and 176 strikeouts in 178.1 innings.
Matthies topped the team with a 0.404 hitting average while Romero led with 31 RBI. Flores led the team with six home runs while Harris led the team with 39 runs scored.
Matthies and Flores paced the team with 12 doubles each while Romero had five home runs to her credit.
The Lady Crusaders out-scored opponents 208-52 this season with a 0.339 hitting average, 69 doubles, nine triples and 22 home runs.
All-Stars
Flores and Harris were selected to compete in Tuesday’s CIF All-Star game at SDSU — Flores in the home run-hitting derby and Harris on the West team in the marquee game.
The event showcased top seniors from across the section.
Southern California Softball Regionals
Division I
Quarterfinals: (1) Mater Dei Catholic (bye); (5) Point Loma 10, (4) Whittier Christian 1
Semifinals: (1) Mater Dei Catholic 7, (5) Point Loma 4
Championship: (1) Mater Dei Catholic (31-3) 3, (2) La Habra (25-9) 0
Division II
Quarterfinals: (1) Riverside Prep 1, (8) Del Norte 0; (2) Great Oak 9, (7) El Capitan 4
Championship: (1) Riverside Prep defeated (2) Great Oak by forfeit
Division III
Quarterfinals: (2) Helix 14, (7) Covina 7; (3) Grace 9, (6) Brawley 3
Semifinals: (2) Helix 6, (3) Grace 3
Championship: (4) Hanford West (20-14) 8, (2) Helix (26-5) 4
Division IV
Quarterfinals: (1) Madison 10, (8) Arieta 4; (5) Grossmont 7, (4) Arroyo 4
Semifinals: (5) Grossmont 15, (1) Madison 3
Championship: (2) Woodlake (31-4) 14, (5) Grossmont-(20-12-1) 4
Division V
Quarterfinals: (5) La Jolla 16, (4) Franklin 3; (6) San Bernardino 9, (3) Monte Vista 6
Semifinals: (1) Arroyo Valley 12, (5) La Jolla 8
Championship: (6) San Bernardino 11, (1) Arroyo Valley 9
