Redondo’s softball team enters the CIF-Southern Section Division 3 playoffs as the Bay League’s No. 1 team hosting St. Joseph/Lakewood in the opening round today.
All games with the exception of the finals are slated to begin at 3:15 p.m. Redondo (18-9) shared the Bay League title with Palos Verdes and finished the regular season ranked No. 6 in the division. It marks the fourth consecutive year Redondo has won or at least shared the league crown.
“I think the brackets were done fairly,” Redondo coach Jennifer Dessert said.”In playoffs you always go out with the mindset that every opponent you play is tough and we are ready for the challenge.”
If the Sea Hawks defeat St. Joseph (14-10-1), they will face the Beaumont-Mayfair winner in the second round on Tuesday.
Redondo is led by four-year starting pitcher Kat Ung who has posted a 14-6 record with a 1.32 ERA this season.
Dessert is proud of how her team has turned the season around.
“Our whole squad has risen to the challenge of moving forward,” Dessert said. “ After the El Segundo Tournament the team really took to heart the fact we weren’t working together as a whole unit. The defense was relying on Kat to do everything and offense wasn’t getting key hits.”
The Sea Hawks also boast a strong offense with second baseman Allison Betty (.493, 14 RBI, 3 home runs, 10 doubles), catcher Samantha Pech (.377, 23 RBI, 4 home runs) and left fielder Tatyana Rosen (.319, 16 RBI, 2 home runs).
“Along with Betty, Pesch and Rosen, centerfielder Marina Griffin and third baseman Kylie Fraser have been making great plays and getting key hits for the squad.”
Palos Verdes (15-9-1) also earned a first-round home game and will play Norwalk (13-7) today. The Sea Kings are led by pitcher Steffi Best, who set school records for most strikeouts in a career and single season. The senior has a record of 14-7 with 245 strikeouts in 136.1 innings this season.
Peninsula (12-18) was the Bay League’s third representative and defeated Northwood 9-4 in a wild-card game on Tuesday. The Panthers now must. travel to top-seeded Grande Terrace (21-1) for a first-round game.
In Division 4, Pioneer League rivals North Torrance and Torrance earned the top two seeds, respectively. North Torrance (24-6-1) hosts Monrovia (9-14) in the first round on Thursday while Torrance (21-9) hosts Maranatha 14-10).
In an all-South Bay opener, West Torrance (18-11) plays at seventh-ranked El Segundo (18-10-1).
In Division 5, Bishop Montgomery (13-9) plays at Rubidoux (15-2).
In Division 6, No. 8 Chadwick (13-5-1) hosts Serra (6-11).
Brackets and results are available at cifss.org.
