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By Loren Kopff
Sports Editor | Follow X
March 2, 2026
HUNTINGTON BEACH-The Gahr High softball team began the season on a hot start, shutting out Foothill High 12-0, then defeating Pacifica High 7-3 on Feb. 21 in the opening games of the First Pitch Challenge Classic. But things have gone south in a heartbeat over the past three games spanning three days.
Following a narrow 5-4 win over Valley Christian High on Feb. 24, the Gladiators have lost three straight games, getting outscored 40-13 with the last two contests coming last Saturday night to wrap up the First Pitch Challenge Classic. Gahr lost to Los Altos High 5-2 in eight innings, then were blown away by Chino Hills High 14-4.
In the opener, the Gladiators rallied for a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to tie the game. Sophomore center fielder Megan Wong led off with a walk on a full count and scored Gahr’s first run on a triple down the left field line from sophomore shortstop Hazel Anglo, who was also facing a full count.
Kaylahni Duenas would then hit junior designated player Cierra Contreras and three pitches later, a single from sophomore third baseman Mylah Burrowes plated Anglo with the tying score.
While junior pitcher Bella Gonzalez stranded a runner at second in the top of the seventh, Gahr could only get a two-out double from Contreras in the bottom half of the frame. But in the eighth inning with Duenas standing at second base per international tiebreaker rules, she scored on a first pitch double from Jasmine Campos. Following a sacrifice from Esme Soto, Melanie Vallin roped a double to the right field gap to make it 4-2.
An infield single from Hannah Vargas and a sacrifice fly from Alliyah Lara would complete the scoring as the Gladiators went down quietly in the bottom of the eighth inning as Burrowes could only get to third on a groundout from senior first baseman Maryah McElroy. Gahr would strand nine runners in the contest, including the bases loaded in the first inning and runners at second and third with none out in the third.
“Their pitcher did a nice job of executing some pitches, but we have to be in that position to want to have those pressure RBI’s.” said Gahr head coach Rey Sanchez. “Those are called pressure RBI’s; be the one to get a big hit with runners on, and we did leave some runners on earlier in the game.”
After Gonzalez struck out two straight batters to end the top of the first, Duenas walked Anglo with one out and yielded a two-out base hit to Burrowes before McElroy reached on an error to load the bases in the bottom of the frame. But a pop-up in foul territory ended that threat. Gahr would get four runners on base over the first four innings while Los Altos got its first two runs in the third inning.
With one out, Payton Godinez reached on an infield single and Gonzalez hit Alliyah Zamano. Then with two outs, Gonzalez walked Duenas before Campos came up with a two-run single to center.
“As a hitter, you have to be the one to want to hit and be in that moment,” said Sanchez. “We didn’t take advantage of the clutch hitting. I know down the road, looking forward, we have a solid team; I know we’re going to be right there. But those are situations to learn from.”
Anglo and Contreras each went two for three, however the bottom four in the lineup combined to go hitless in 13 at-bats. Gonzalez tossed 116 pitches and struck out seven while walking one. She is the only returning pitcher with extensive experience. Junior Leah Magana is a returning pitcher but is currently injured and the team had to call up freshman Zara Gortarez from the junior varsity team for the tournament.
The lack of pitching depth would have a bearing on the outcome of the second game as the Gladiators gave Gonzalez a 1-0 lead after the first inning. But the Huskies erupted for six runs in the top of the second inning and cruised from that point on as Gonzalez left before the inning was over because of a groin injury.
“Bella did a hell of a job [in the first game] and I think what happened with her is she told me she has a little bit of a groin injury,” said Sanchez. “She felt a pull, and that’s why I decided to take her out of this game. We’re going to see if we can nurse that groin injury. She wanted to gut it out, of course. [She said she has] one more and finally I decided it’s not worth it. It’s too early in the year and she’s too valuable to us.”
Wong doubled on the third pitch of the bottom of the first and scored on a sacrifice fly from Burrowes. Gahr would score again in the third on another double from Wong and a double from Contreras. In the fifth, and with the score 14-2, sophomore pinch hitter Maya Moreau singled to left field with a one-out single and was replaced by Wong, who stole second. That was followed by a double from Magana on the next pitch. Three batters later, McElroy brought in Anglo, who was running for Magana, for the last run of the game. Again, the bottom four of the lineup struggled, going hitless in five at-bats while the top five accounted for all seven hits the team produced.
“It comes down to pitching and defense, and we didn’t have defense,” said Sanchez. “We were a little sloppy on defense today, and we have to clean that up.”
Gahr began the week with road games against California High and La Serna High and will travel to Cypress High on Monday, La Habra High on Tuesday and Huntington Beach High on Wednesday. While Gateway League action isn’t until Mar. 26, the Gladiators need to get their injured players healthy in the next week or two.
“There are decisions that we have to make early on in these games,” said Sanchez. “The number one rule for us is player safety. I’ve got to get them healthy and that’s what we just talked about [after the game]. I said, ‘hey, we’re dinged up a little bit’. There’s a good five kids that have an issue, and of course, when you’re limited depth-wise…right now our commitment is to get these girls as healthy as we can. That’s what it comes down to.
“It’s not going to be easy,” he later said on the upcoming schedule. “La Serna really took it to us last year; we were able to get a win against Cal last year. We’ve gotten [Cal] the last two times, and one of them was for a [CIF-Southern Section] title. So I know they want to get even with us, for sure. But it’s definitely going to be tough. We have to have a good day at practice on Monday and get ourselves as healthy as we can and then go on and compete. That’s all I ask the girls to do.”
Earlier in the day at La Mirada, the host Matadores shook off a rusty top of the first inning against Foothill and cruised to a 14-0 win over the Knights. That was followed by a 7-0 win over El Segundo High as the Matadores improved to 6-1, outscoring their last five opponents 45-4 including three straight shutouts.
In the top of the first, senior Bettie Mae Acevedo loaded the bases with two outs by giving up a leadoff single to Brooklyn Austin and walking a pair of batters. But on the second straight 3-1 count, she got Kai Nguyen to fly out to freshman left fielder Alanna Adams to end the threat. Acevedo threw 32 pitches in the inning and reached a three-ball count to five straight batters after Austin’s base hit.
La Mirada responded in typical fashion in its half of the frame by scoring five runs, none bigger than a grand slam from sophomore first baseman Juliana Rivera with one out. Two batters later, freshman second baseman Fatima Serna doubled, junior designated player Megan Avila singled and freshman center fielder Milani Cruz, all on a combined four pitches. In the next inning, Acevedo gave up two more singles but stranded both runners paving the way to more offensive production by her teammates.
“She’s done a great job for us, obviously just getting us through our time right now,” said La Mirada head coach Brent Tuttle of Acevedo. “If [junior pitcher] Allison [Ortega] will tell you, these are Allison’s starts but Bettie Mae goes out there and all three of her starts-the Mater Dei game, the Great Oak game and this one-she gets stronger as the game goes. But defensively, we’ve been able to bail her out. She knows if she goes 3-0 [in the count], she’ll make them swing and hopefully our defense will make some plays. We know we’re not asking Bettie Mae, and then our next pitcher Lily to strike out girls. We’re just asking them to trust the defense, hit you spots, get us some ground balls and get the routine outs.”
La Mirada added three runs in the second inning with freshman third baseman Rylee Thurmond belting her first home run of the season. The Matadores kept the hitting going in the third as they batted around, plus three more, collecting five more hits and two walks. Junior shortstop Reese Hilliard, a Stanford University commit and her sister, junior catcher Riley Hilliard, a University of Oklahoma commit, had back to back run-scoring doubles.
When the dust had settled, La Mirada had a season-high 15 hits, and every starter had at least one hit. Reese Hilliard went three for three and drove in a pair while sophomore right fielder Elizabeth Biado, a transfer from Ayala High, Cruz and Thurmond all went two for two.
“You could see it; our hitters hit,” said Tuttle. “Julie hit one out and now you see why we have the freshmen starting and the freshmen are doing a great job at the plate. One had a triple, one had the home run, one had a bunt single. Alanna got on, so all the freshmen are doing good things. They’re contributing right away.”
In the second game against El Segundo, it was a 13-hit attack that began in the top of the first inning when the hosts scored four runs. Riley Hilliard, who was playing third base in this game, went four for four. Through the first seven games, she has 16 hits in 21 at-bats. Adams went two for three and has nine hits in 22 at-bats.
After losing 11 seniors from last season’s team, the Matadores have started as many as five freshmen in any game. And even with Ortega, the team’s top pitcher when the season began, battling through some shoulder soreness, Acevedo and freshman Liliana Larios have picked up the slack as if they were four-year varsity members.
“We reload and you just have to get the kids to buy into it one way,” said Tuttle. “We only do things one way, and one you get them to buy into it…there’s only one way to play the game. They buy into the culture, and this freshmen group is really buying into it. But they were talented coming in, and it’s the product of the La Mirada community. I’m just lucky to be coaching them.”
La Mirada will play five games in three days in the 30th Annual Dave Kops Tournament of Champions in Bullhead City, a yearly trip Tuttle makes with his teams. The first game will be against either South Torrance High or Brea Olinda High with a pair of games slated for Friday and Saturday.
“What I do like, not that Allison is hurt, but if Allison is 100 percent going into Bullhead, now we’ve gotten our other two pitchers some experience that they may not have eaten some of these innings,” said Tuttle. “Because you figure Alison would have pitched two or three games, and now those three games are going to Lily and Bettie Mae, getting them some more experience at the varsity level heading into Bullhead. Now we know we can navigate games with them, which in Bullhead, you’re going to have to because it’s five games in three days.”
When the Matadores come back from the desert, they will be off until Mar. 17 when they welcome Segerstrom High.
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