The Hilltop High School softball team opens Mesa League play next Wednesday (April 12) when it hosts Eastlake in a 3 p.m. matchup.
The Lady Lancers (8-10 overall) recently completed five games in their own invitational tournament by placing runner-up in the championship game to Steele Canyon on March 25.
Hilltop reeled off consecutive wins against Serra, Montgomery and Valhalla in pool play, then defeated El Capitan, 2-1, in the tournament quarterfinals and Bonita Vista, 7-4, in the semifinals.
The Lady Cougars (14-5) placed their stamp on the event by claiming the title game by a score of 9-1.
Selena Serna and Sari Daugherty scored runs in the win over El Capitan while Rayna Moraga threw a complete game two-hitter.
“The strength of our team is our pitching and defense,” head coach Juan Reyes explained.
Moraga and fellow Vanessa Macias lead the team in the pitching department.
Macias threw a complete game five-hitter against Bonita Vista in the tournament semifinals. The Lady Lancers jumped out to a seven-run lead after the second inning to offer her offensive support. Jizabel Campa and Jordan Vista each drove in two runs.
“There were great individual plays on defence by everyone,” Reyes explained. “But Ali Ramirez had four huge put-outs in right field.”
Senior Ariana Rodriguez rounds out the top players for Hilltop this season.
Daugherty is hitting .464 with a team leading 10 RBI and five doubles while Rodriguez is hitting .360 with six RBI and three doubles.
