With a strong nucleus of senior returners, Mira Costa’s softball team is off and running as it looks to dethrone four-time defending Bay League champion Redondo.
Under the leadership of first-year head coach Brittany Gardner, Mira Costa (9-3) is ranked No. 2 in CIF-Southern Section Division 4 and is coming off an 11th-place finish in the prestigious 6th annual Torrance National Tournament.
The Mustangs opened the 32-team tournament with a 3-2 victory over West Torrance, the top-ranked team in Division 5. Following a 5-4 loss to Cerritos, Mira Costa routed Redondo 9-1, lost to Banning 7-3 then defeated St. Anthony of Long Beach 9-0.
Junior second baseman Katie Gould is batting over .600 to lead a Mustang offense that is hitting .380 as a team.
Mira Costa is also benefitting from the production of Elliott Estes, Emily Eudy, Jamie Hoffman, Alex Orozco, Serena Ponciano and freshman Piper Neri.
Rio Mesa (Oxnard) defeated Coronado (Henderson, Nev.) 3-1 in the TNT championship game.
Mira Costa opens Bay League competition Wednesday, March 29 with a road game at Peninsula before hosting Cypress for a doubleheader beginning at 3 p.m. Thursday, March 30 at Marine West field.
Redondo (3-5) will be hard pressed to replace three-time All-CIF southpaw hurler Kat Ung but senior Megan Roland, junior Laura Chafe and freshman Amy Simonek are vying to become the ace of the staff.
Coach Jennifer Dessert’s offense is led by KP Fraser, Samantha Pech and McKenna Villiagrana-zayas.
The Sea Hawks play at defending Division 4 champion North Torrance Wednesday, March 29 at 3 p.m., at South Torrance (No 4, Div. 5) on Friday, March 31 then open Bay League action with a road game at Morningside on Wednesday, April 5.
