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April 21, 2026
By Loren Kopff • @LorenKopff on X
If there was one player who could help guide Artesia High’s young team of seven freshmen, four juniors and three sophomores, it might be senior pitcher Abbygail Perez. The standout, a transfer from , had to sit out half the season and did not make her Artesia debut until the league opener on Mar. 27 at .
With five returning players, one of whom is the other senior on the team, second baseman Mia Soto, head coach Johnathan Shapiro was hoping to get the most out of Perez over the final half of the season. So far, Perez has not disappointed anyone as she picked up her second league shutout in her sixth start with her new team as the Pioneers took care of 5-0 last Friday.
Perez struck out 13 batters, walked two and allowed two hits as none of the six baserunners got past second base.
“She’s leading by example,” said Shapiro. “Not only is she a staple on the team now, because pitching is everything, but she leads by example. She has a work ethic that she brought in and is teaching these young girls how it is to be in a high school program, because a lot of them haven’t had that. And it’s showing [our] younger pitcher [freshman Danika Vega] what it’s like.”
Ironically, four of her starts have been in league competition, all at home, making the Oxford Academy contest her last home regular season game on senior day.
“Right now, I’m feeling really, really at ease knowing our position in [league] right now,” said Perez. “I think going into [the season], knowing that I didn’t have half my season, I was going to do everything it took to make up for what I missed; something I couldn’t control. But everything now, and all the games I’ve played have more than made up for what I missed.”
Perez recorded the first two outs in the top of the first and second innings before hitting Shay Tiettmeyer and walking Elina Pattahaik, respectively before working a perfect third inning. Her bid for a no-hitter was broken up when Tiettmeyer led off the fourth with a booming double to the center field fence.
But Perez, who had a season-high 15 strikeouts against Yucca Valley High on Apr. 7, bounced back to strike out the next two hitters and got Sophia Tran to ground out. Perez struck out two batters in six of the seven innings and got seven groundouts but worked a three-ball count to eight batters. Of those eight, she finished off five of them with strikeouts. Of her 117 pitches thrown, 46 were balls.
“I think my performance could have went a little bit better,” said Perez. “Even in my hitting aspect, I think that I’ve been hitting pretty well in previous games, and this game didn’t go as well for me. I’m semi-okay with my performance today on the mound. I think my walk count could have been lower.”
“It’s just me and her building that chemistry; it’s her learning and trusting my pitch calls, and me trusting her, also,” said Shapiro. “I have all the faith in her; she’s the one out there, so she’s the one seeing the [strike] zone better than I am. She likes to get her pitch count up; she likes to work the count. So it’s not surprising that she’s getting in those situations. She’s not one that just wants to go one-two-three.”
Offensively, the only run the Pioneers needed came in the bottom of the first when Kaylee Rebutoc hit junior shortstop Paulina Nava on the first pitch, who then stole second and scored when sophomore center fielder Brisyeda Munoz reached on an error. In the fourth, Munoz led off with a double to deep center and scored with two outs when freshman catcher Sofia Garcia was safe on a throwing error.
Despite three long ball outs to Tiettmeyer in the third, fourth and fifth innings, and a stellar double play started by Libby Denkers in the fifth to save at least a run, Artesia (8-9, 3-1) put the game away in the sixth with three runs.
Vega led off the frame with a single, followed by a double from freshman left fielder Sophia Campos and a walk to freshman right fielder Brenda Reyes. After a sacrifice from Nava, a two-run base hit to right from Munoz capped off the scoring.
Perez, normally a good hitter, was hitless in four at-bats, seeing a combined seven pitches while Soto was the one who was thwarted by Denkers, who dove forward to catch a potential bunt, then threw to third to double up Munoz who had thoughts of scoring.
“She’s getting better and better, and her bat is getting better and better,” said Shapiro of Perez. “The last two games, she’s had home runs before today. Then today, she’s getting warning track [fly balls]. She’s seeing the ball well; she’s making her approach at the plate different and it’s paying off.”
Although her time at Artesia will be short-lived regardless of how far the Pioneers go in the , Perez is glad she made the right choice to transfer. Had she stayed at Gahr, where she started three games and appeared in eight others, she probably would have been behind junior Isabella Gonzalez, who had nearly 100 more innings of action last season.
“I really did love Gahr; I loved the girls there,” said Perez. “I have nothing against Gahr. They gave me a CIF championship title [in 2024]. I think going into my senior year, I just wanted a lot more playing time, which I didn’t receive at Gahr. But that’s okay because my performances weren’t the best when I did get the opportunity. But Artesia is my home school and maybe I thought maybe I would be happier here, academically as well.”
Artesia will visit on Tuesday and go to Oxford Academy two days later before wrapping up the regular season on May 5 at Cerritos. The Pioneers missed the playoffs last season after advancing to the postseason the previous five seasons. Two seasons ago, Artesia finished in second place in the .
“Because we’re so young, we’re adjusting our lineup; we’re trying to find out who fits where best,” said Shapiro. “I think we were good one through nine today. We all saw the ball well; we’re all putting the ball in play, and it paid off for us.”
“I’m really happy with where we are at right now,” said Perez. “There’s a chance [we could win league]. Our game with Cerritos was really close. It was a 3-0 game until the sixth inning. I think that if we get our bats a little bit more active these next four games, I think it’s possible and hopefully we’ll either end up in second or tied for first. But I’m really happy with what’s going on right now.”
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