CHULA VISTA – The outfield fence at Mater Dei Catholic High School’s softball field is decorated with 12 white banners, each representing league or section championships. A lone gold banner in left field stands out. That one honors the Crusaders’ 2022 SoCal Regional title.
Come Saturday in Orange County, Mater Dei Catholic will try to win a second SoCal championship. On an overcast, cool Thursday afternoon, the Crusaders earned that right when senior Lilia Alpuche smacked an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh, giving Mater Dei a 5-4 walk-off win over rival Bonita Vista in the SoCal Regional semifinals.
Said Alpuche: “Time to hang another gold banner.”
The second-seeded Crusaders (28-5) will hit the road to face No. 1 Orange El Modena (23-9) on Saturday for the Div. 1 SoCal Regional title. El Modena beat Poway 8-6 in nine innings Thursday.
South Bay rivals Mater Dei Catholic and Bonita Vista were meeting for the fourth time this season. They split two games in the regular season. Then Mater Dei thumped the Barons 6-1 in the CIF San Diego Section Open Division title game on Saturday night.
When Bonita Vista rallied for a 3-1 lead in the top of the fourth, it looked like the Barons might exact some revenge. But to Mater Dei co-head coach Liz Centrullo, pride played a factor in the Crusaders’ comeback.
“They have a lot of fight and heart,” said Centrullo. “We’re at home. There’s a little bit more pride here at home and they take that seriously.”
MDC is loaded with talented underclassmen. Sophomore pitcher Arri Romero is 22-4 and leads the team with 31 RBIs. Sophomore catcher Charlize “Chuck” Masingale is hitting .376. But on Thursday, two seniors came through in the clutch.
First there was Alpuche, who finished the day 3-for-4 with two RBIs. She stepped to the plate in the seventh inning with the game tied 4-4 and Liana Quinones on third and one out. Quinones led off the inning with a double and was bunted to third.
“Being put in those situations you think somebody would be nervous,” said Alpuche, who plays right field. “But to be honest, I wasn’t. Not a bit. I know I have teammates behind me who, if I don’t do the job, a girl behind me will.”
Then there was senior pitcher Analesse “Peanut” Garcia. In her fourth varsity season, Garcia had racked up 35 career wins. But she hadn’t pitched since April 30 because of a deeply bruised left knee suffered fouling a ball off her leg.
After the Barons reached Romero for four earned runs on seven hits, Centrullo trusted the game to Garcia.
Pointing out that Romero had pitched every inning against Bonita Vista this season, Centrullo said, “Bonita needed to see something different.”
Added Centrullo, “Peanut has taken us to championships in the past and has been rock solid on this team.”
Showing no rust, Garcia worked two scoreless innings for the win, giving up one hit and a walk.
“Honestly,” said Garcia, “it was just trusting my mechanics and trying to stay as calm as I could.”
For Bonita Vista (25-8), losing to its rival for a third time was gut wrenching. Kianna Balajadia-Brooks did her part for the Barons, smacking a triple and game-tying home run.
Meanwhile, Garcia said there was another key component to the victory. Pointing to her white fingernails, she said, “And it’s the white nails. All four years I paint them white this time.”
