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May 6, 2026
By Loren Kopff • @LorenKopff on X
To say that the second meeting this season between Gahr High and La Mirada High was much different than the first meeting two and a half weeks later would be a strong understatement. When La Mirada walked off for a 2-1 victory on Apr. 16, both teams combined for 22 baserunners and nine hits.
The second encounter this past Tuesday to close out the regular season saw a combined 12 baserunners and nine runs just in the first inning alone. Gahr was resting junior pitcher Isabella Gonzalez for the upcoming CIF-Southern Section playoffs while La Mirada was doing the same to junior catcher Ryley Hilliard. With little to play for as La Mirada had already wrapped up its seventh straight league title, the host Gladiators pushed across a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, then sophomore Makayla Williams, in her first start of the season, needed seven pitches in the top of the seventh for her first perfect inning of the game as the Gladiators defeated the Matadores 9-7.
It was the fourth time since 1999 that Gahr had defeated La Mirada. The previous three times came in the second game of the 1999 season, a 5-1 decision in the Cypress Tournament, a 6-0 contest in 2017 and five seasons ago. an 8-6 affair.
“Well, I’ll tell you what, they jumped on us,” said Gahr head coach Rey Sanchez. “Obviously not having Bella on the mound…I mentioned to the girls we need to relax and play our game no matter what. Yeah, we have a few players hurt, but [they] have to find a way to get in and do what [they] do best. Go out and relax; go play and whatever happens, happens.”
“It just wasn’t our day,” said La Mirada head coach Brent Tuttle. “We made some bad plays early in the game and they hit the ball.”
La Mirada’s explosive offense tormented Williams from the fourth pitch of the game when freshman left fielder Alanna Adams tripled to right field and scored three pitches later when junior shortstop Reese Hilliard tripled to the same spot. On the next pitch, freshman second baseman Fatima Serna launched her second home run of the season.
After Williams walked sophomore catcher Elizabeth Biado, sophomore first baseman Julianna Rivera reached on an infield single. Both runners advanced on a wild pitch before Biado made it 4-0 after freshman third baseman Rylee Thurmond launched a fly ball to right field for the first out. The Matadores batted around in the inning, but Gahr rallied back and batted around while scoring five times in the bottom of the first.
With one out, junior center fielder Kayleigh Allen doubled to the left field fence and came home two pitches later when sophomore shortstop Hazel Anglo homered for the third time this season. On the next pitch, senior first baseman Maryah McElroy reached on an error and scored on a passed ball, the third while she was on base.
La Mirada junior pitcher Alison Ortega then walked junior right fielder Leah Magana, who later scored on another passed ball and sophomore designated player Maya Moreau, who reached on a fielder’s choice, moved to second on an error and came home on a base hit from sophomore second baseman Alissa Agaton.
“The first inning was obviously crazy,” said Sanchez. “[La Mirada] came out like gangbusters and they had some nice hits; they hit a two-run home run early, and I loved our bounce back. We talked about being a golf ball all year long and it’s about bouncing back, and we did. We took advantage of a few miscues on their part, which helped, but we also got some key hits.
“Keyleigh with a big double to get us going, and then Hazel absolutely annihilated that ball and she got into that one,” he added. “That’s probably the best ball that I’ve seen her hit.”
The Matadores, who needed to win to potentially grab one of the top four seeds in the CIF-SS Division 1 playoffs, which begins on Thursday, began to chip away at their deficit. Currently seeded fifth in the division power rankings, the Matadores (22-4, 6-2) tied the game on the second pitch of the third when Thurmond blasted her fifth home run of the season. In the next inning, La Mirada regained the lead when Adams was safe on an infield hit and scored on Reese Hilliard’s double to the right field gap.
But Gahr (15-12, 5-3), which had two base runners over the next three innings after grabbing the 5-4 lead, went up 7-6 in the fifth Allen and Anglo each doubled on a combined three pitches with one out. A groundout from McElroy plated Anglo before La Mirada tied the contest in the sixth. This time, it was Serna who blasted another home run.
But in the bottom half of the frame, Ortega walked Moreau, then senior pinch runner Audrey Madden stole second and scored on a double from Agaton. Two batters later, freshman catcher Rylee Jackson hit a sacrifice fly to left to plate Agaton for the game’s final run.
Williams, who made her season debut on Apr. 29 against Long Beach Poly High, threw 116 pitches, allowed 11 hits, walked three and struck out a pair. She is the fourth different starter for the Gladiators this season, but four others have seen action in the circle, totaling 10 innings.
“Before the game, I mentioned to her that I didn’t want her feeling the pressure because it was her first start of the year and of course, it happens to be one of the best teams that we’re going to face,” said Sanchez of Williams. “But I’m just proud of her. She just nodded, smiled and that’s one thing about Mak; is that she’s got a smile that will light up any room or any field. She was able to do that; she was able to calm down [after the first inning] and kind of control her nerves.”
Even though La Mirada won its seventh straight league title, it has lost to Warren High twice and Gahr once since 2019 and has taken 60 of its last 63 league contests. Gahr and Warren finished tied for second place with 5-3 marks while Downey High was fourth with a 3-5 league record. Those four will enter the playoffs with a combined overall record of 73-35.
“No slouch; there’s really no slouch, and even Mayfair had a big win against Warren the other day,” said Sanchez of the league. “Mayfair can beat anybody on any day. This league is not an easy league and it’s going to get tougher next year even when they’ll have the super league going.
“But we have had some quality games, and I think what this does is it allows us to go into the playoffs battle tested, because Downey is always tough, Warren is always tough, and you know La Mirada is going to put a great team together all the time,” he continued. “I’m proud of the fact that we have these games. It’s not easy to win these games, but I’m proud of the fact that the girls kind of hung in there, especially on a day like today where Mak was making her first start. I’m really proud of them.”
“It’s a good league and it’s going to get tougher next year,” said Tuttle. “When you go to these super [leagues] or whatever, that’s what you’re going to get. You get good teams who are going to miss the playoffs because you want to have competitive equity down the line. You’re going to have teams who are 15-13 making the playoffs and some teams who are 18-5 missing the playoffs.”
The nine runs La Mirada allowed marked the second highest total this season. The Matadores fell to Los Alamitos High 10-0 on Feb. 21, the second game of the season. Since then, the team had not given up more than five runs in any game.
“Something is going on; I don’t know,” said Tuttle of Ortega, who gave up nine hits and struck out six. “She said she wasn’t herself today. She got hit hard and it is what it is.”
Adams and Reese Hilliard each collected three hits while Agaton, Allen and Anglo all had a pair of hits.
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