LA JOLLA — To celebrate the softball team playing for its first CIF San Diego Section softball title, Calipatria High School’s teachers and students formed a tunnel at the campus quad and high-fived the players before they hopped on vans.
The players ed the 2½-hour trip the way you’d expect teenagers to, napping and eating. (Burritos filled with chorizo and French fries were the preferred option.)
Then came the raucous Division 5-AA championship game against No. 1-seeded Warner, which had defeated Calipatria twice. What’s that they say about the third time? It was charming for the third-seeded Hornets, who batted around twice Thursday and beat Warner 27-8 to win the CIF San Diego Section title in their division.
After the game, center fielder Delilah Amezquita held a banner in one hand, wrapped both arms around her mother and cried, sobbing heavy tears into her mom’s shoulder.
“They’re tears of excitement and happiness,” said Amezquita, who scored three runs and itted she cried before, during and after the game.
“Before the game, I cried because it was nerve-racking,” said Amezquita.
She cried during the game out of embarrassment when she stumbled to the ground during a swing.
“I cried in the dugout,” she said.
The postgame tears?
“I was so happy,” said Amezquita. “At the same time, it kind of hit me. Oh my, it’s our last game. I may never hang out with these girls again.”
Division 5-AA was created before the 2023-24 season to give the Division 5 schools with the smallest enrollments and their students a chance to experience the playoffs, win meaningful games and hold championship plaques above their heads.
Said CIF San Diego Section commissioner Joe Heinz: “The whole thing is providing students the experience of a playoff run and potentially a championship that they otherwise wouldn’t have the opportunity to experience. You see the smiles on fans, family and the players, it’s paying off. It’s been awesome to see the excitement on kids’ faces.”
Thursday’s softball was not always clinic-worthy. Warner committed 21 errors, including four on one play. Calipatria committed seven. There were wild pitches and ed balls. But more importantly, there were teenage girls playing a sport they love and playing every bit as hard as the Open Division teams will at the same site on Saturday night.
And there was the fun and laughter you see at a Little League game, girls diving head-first into home just to get dirty when they could have easily scored standing up.
Asked what winning the first softball championship in school history means, Calipatria head coach Joe Nunez, a landscaper by day, said: “It means the world to them.”
“Honestly,” said pitcher Selena Cano, who went 4-for-6 and scored four runs, “it shows how different our generation is. I’m proud of us. It makes me feel happy.”
Every player in Calipatria’s lineup scored at least one run. Every starter but one had at least one hit. Cano, Yayma Vargas and Mikayla Hurtado each scored four runs.
“We came out here and played with our hearts,” said Hurtado. “We wanted to win this game, bad.”
Bonita Vista eliminates Poway
Third-seeded Bonita Vista beat Poway 7-1 to advance to Saturday night’s CIF San Diego Section Open Division championship game. The Barons (25-6) will face Metro Mesa rival and top-seeded Mater Dei Catholic.
It was the fourth time Bonita Vista and Poway played this season, the third time in the playoffs. Poway edged Bonita 5-4 in the second round before the Barons won 6-0 on Tuesday and 7-1 Thursday. Poway was the two-time reigning Open champions.
Leah Letuli went 2-for-3 with three RBI for Bonita Vista. Natalie Gonzalez pitched five innings, permitting just one run.
