May 20, 2025
By Loren Kopff • @LorenKopff on X
Cerritos High may be the queens of 605 League softball, winning six straight titles and losing just twice in the circuit since its inception, but when it comes to the CIF-Southern Section divisional playoffs, the Dons haven’t had much luck recently.
The program had not won a playoff game since 2021 since defeating Whittier Christian High 4-3 in the quarterfinals. Since then, the Dons had lost four straight postseason games by a combined nine runs. And after the first two innings against Mira Costa High last Thursday, it looked as if that number would be five straight playoff losses.
But Cerritos, seeded third in the division, erupted for four runs in the bottom of the fourth inning and eight more in the sixth as the Dons crushed the Mustangs 14-5 in a Division 5 first-round game. Coupled with an 11-1 win at Valencia High last Saturday, the team improved to 16-6 as it hosted Canyon Springs High in the quarterfinals. Cerritos already has the most wins since going 22-2 in 2021.
Mira Costa scored twice in the top of the first inning off junior pitcher Ava Ceron, who faced seven batters and threw 13 pitches. In the next inning, she tossed 15 pitches and gave up two more runs while facing six batters. After that, she settled down despite scattering six more singles.
“Something about this team that is special is they have very short-term memories,” said Cerritos’ first-year head coach Michelle Steck. “They’re really quick at flushing the mistakes or flushing what’s going on, staying loud, just playing Cerritos softball and coming back to find ways to win.”
“We had to stay up; we had to fight back,” said Ceron. “That’s something about our team. We always know how to keep it going even if we’re behind. I just felt like I was keeping my pitches too high. I usually am like a low [ball] pitcher, and the low balls produce flyouts and ground balls. I felt like I was kind of missing my spots, but I made the adjustments to produce the outs that we needed.”
Mira Costa was up 2-0 and had the bases loaded in the first when Sam Ure hit a ball that was caught by senior center fielder Anaya Granflor, who threw a dart to senior catcher Aliana Calderon, where she tagged out Maelie Fasano for the double play.
The Dons scored their first run in the third inning when Granflor was safe on one of nine Mira Costa errors, stole second, and scored on Ceron’s one-out groundout. Freshman right fielder Demi Lagare was also safe on an error and made it 4-2 by coming home on a passed ball.
After seeing the Mustangs, who won eight games in the regular season, tack on a run in the fourth inning, Cerritos continued the momentum in its half of the frame. Calderon, who at 4’ 11” is one of the shortest players on the team, singled off the glove of Fasano and scored on a double from senior third baseman Michelle Meza. Two more errors allowed senior shortstop Katherine Villegas to get to second with Meza scoring and freshman left fielder Noelle Martinez doubled down the left field line to plate Villegas.
Two outs later, Clara Wilcox walked Lagare, who stole second and went to third on an infield single. That set the stage for Ceron, who redeemed herself by placing an infield single in front of shortstop Madelyn Riethmiller, bringing in Martinez for the eventual game-winning run.
“They were just telling us to stay focused; keep doing what we know we could do,” said Ceron of the coaches.
“Ali is a little catalyst on this team, and she gets really frustrated with herself if she doesn’t get that big hit, which everyone wants,” said Steck. “I just have to keep reminding her that whatever it takes. I don’t care if it’s the ugliest bunt on the planet; it looks like a line drive in the books. We need to remember that it truly doesn’t matter. We just need something to get base runners in that situation.”
Ceron would leave runners at second and third in the fifth and yielded a two-out single in the sixth. But the Dons put the game out of reach in the bottom of the sixth by sending 12 to the plate. And just like Mira Costa was connecting on the first or second pitch thrown by Ceron in the early innings, the Dons were doing the same off Wilcox on the sixth.
With runners on first and second to begin the onslaught, Ceron, who is the leadoff batter, sophomore first baseman Zoe Corrales, Calderon, and Meza connected on a combined seven pitches, either getting a hit or a run-scoring groundout. A double from Villegas on an 0-2 count plated Meza to make it 10-5. That was followed by first-pitch singles from Martinez and Granflor, then a one-strike base hit from senior second baseman Lana Javier.
When it was all said and done, eight starters had at least a hit and drove in at least a run, while seven starters scored at least a run. Ceron went two for five and drove in a pair while Martinez, Meza, and Villegas all had two hits. And, while she did not have a strikeout, Ceron still survived a 12-hit attack by the Mustangs, who stranded nine runners.
This was the third time this season Cerritos had rallied from an early deficit to win. It trailed Kennedy High 8-2 after one and half innings on Mar. 17 and rallied for a 9-8 win and was down to Oxford Academy 6-2 after two innings on Apr. 11 before coming back for a 13-6 victory. That was the beginning of an eight-game winning streak heading into the quarterfinals. The Dons also scored a run in the bottom of the seventh against Mark Keppel High on Feb. 27 to win 7-6 after allowing three runs in the top of the seventh.
“We’ve done it kind of off and on all season [and] this was definitely a different situation, being that this was the first round of the CIF [playoffs],” said Steck of the rallies. “We haven’t been out of the first round of CIF for quite some time. We know that, but I think it’s not something I’d like to say we’re used to, but it’s something that they’re familiar with.”
“That was definitely our goal coming into the year,” said Ceron. “We wanted to get at least past round one, and we have such a great group of girls. I’m really happy that we were able to do it.”
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