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May 19, 2026
By Loren Kopff • @LorenKopff on X
Out of the many questions that the Gahr High softball team and its followers may have had entering the CIF-Southern Section Division 2 playoffs last Thursday centered around junior pitcher Isabella Gonzalez. The star pitcher of the last three seasons entered the first round playoff game against Yorba Linda High has started 54 games in her high school career with over 382 innings pitched, has allowed 381 hits, 114 earned runs and has struck out 339 batters.
But Gonzalez had not pitched since Mar. 30, resting her right arm which has been inflamed because of what she calls ‘overuse’. She spent the time off visioning the batters and doing dry runs. Off the field, she was doing a lot of cardio and whatever she could without pitching so she, in her words, could provide for her team and be the best she could be.
Whatever she did worked in the playoff opener as she was perfect through the first three innings and finished the game scattering five hits, striking out three and walking one as the Gladiators doubled up the Mustangs 4-2.
“Honestly, I was feeling a little anxious; a little ‘oh my gosh, I haven’t pitched,” said Gonzalez. “But I was mentally preparing. I needed to remember that I didn’t forget how to pitch overnight. I just needed to rely on my mechanics and my hard work.”
“So, competitors compete,” said Gahr head coach Rey Sanchez. “I know that’s deep, but that’s who she is. She’s going to find a way. Yeah, she didn’t throw, obviously, in that La Mirada game [on May 5]; we decided to hold her back and get the arm right. But once the switch is turned on, she’s laser focused; she’s executing pitches, she was popping the ball like Bella does. She did a great job getting through the lineup in the first three innings and I think if we make a play here or there, I think she ends up shutting them out.”
Gonzalez had the tough task of limiting whatever damage would come her way against a team that batted .369 in the regular season and had four of the first five in the batting order hit over .400.
She threw seven pitches in the top of the first inning, a dozen in the second and eight in the third. Meanwhile, the offense was backing her up and staked her to a 3-0 lead after three innings. Junior right fielder Leah Magana led off the bottom of the second with a double to the right field gap, moved to third on a ground out from senior designated player Maryah McElroy and scored first run of the contest on a groundout from sophomore first baseman Alissa Agaton.
In the next inning, Yorba Linda pitcher Erica Martin walked sophomore third baseman Megan Wong before yielding a one-pitch double to junior Kayleigh Allen. Then with two outs, Magana singled in both runs before getting thrown out at second.
“Today I wanted to feel more relaxed and again, just play my part and help my team,” said Magana. “I just wanted to be aggressive and get on [base]. I was most definitely thinking of just putting the ball in play and getting on base so we can have a run to score in. I knew my teammates could bring me in.”
The first pitch thrown by Gonzalez in the top of the fourth was a double to left field from Claire Gress. That was followed by an error, allowing Saige Block to reach first and a single from Liliya Cartledge putting the Mustangs on the board. Now with two outs and Madison Page standing at third base via a fielder’s choice, moving to second on a fielder’s choice from Martin and a wild pitch, a single from Grace Gomez made it 3-2. In fact, Gonzalez faced seven batters in the inning, throwing 18 pitches, including one pitch to four batters.
“When a lot of the chaos was happening in that fourth inning, this season definitely has taught me patience, and I think I really just used my patience to my advantage,” said Gonzalez. “I’ve been in this situation before and not everything is going to go my way.”
“First of all, she was doing a great job jumping ahead to most everybody,” said Sanchez. “[Gress] hit a nice ball out to left…credit to them, they learned from their first time through [the lineup] and we executed some pitches, and they adjusted.”
But Gonzalez settled down over the next three frames, throwing 38 more pitches, yielding a two-out double to Gress in the fifth, a leadoff single to Cartledge the next inning and hitting Brooke Boyd with two outs in the seventh.
“Oh god, every single time she comes out, she deals and she’s honestly amazing and I love Bella,” said Magana. “I’ve known her for years and she deals every single time she comes out, no matter what setback she has.”
“She’s going to pitch to the toughest hitters and even in Division 1,” said Sanchez. “She can get people out. She’s great at throwing to both sides of the plate; she can throw a changeup for a strike, and she can move it up and down. The thing is she can throw it to all quadrants when asked on command.”
The Gladiators added an insurance run when Wong led off the fifth with a double to center, stole third and came home on a one-out sacrifice fly from sophomore shortstop Hazel Anglo. Gahr posted eight hits; at least one in each inning, but three came from Magana’s bat while Wong went two for two. For Magana, it was a career-high in hits as she had five previous games last season and this season in which she had a pair of hits.
“It was most definitely a great experience and especially being in the CIF first round, we came out and did our job,” said Magana. “Everybody was energetic, hyped; we all played our part in our positions, and we had each other’s back at the end of the day.”
“Leah was money today,” said Sanchez. “She’s made an adjustment in practice on her swing, and her swing has been feeling really good. She’s taking good at-bats in practice; she’s hitting the ball over the place. I moved her up in the lineup just because I felt she had been jiving, and she delivered. She was clutch.”
Gahr’s season came to an end last Saturday after falling to Mater Dei High 3-1. Wong had one of the team’s three hits and scored the only run in the bottom of the first inning. But the Monarchs broke the tie two innings later with a pair of runs. The Gladiators (16-13) were limited to three hits, the second lowest production all season. Since Sanchez took over the helm of the program in 2019, the Gladiators have won 125 games, won the CIF-SS Division 2 crown in 2024, advanced to the semifinals twice and the second round once.
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