2 weeks Ago
Support our high school sports coverage by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribe nowWidespread parity in Orange County softball is a major theme heading into the Michelle Carew Classic, which runs Wednesday through Saturday.“Have you noticed that?” Orange Lutheran coach Steve Miklos said with a smile of the trend.
“As soon as you put a team up there (in the Orange County rankings), they get knocked down.”“(But) that’s the game,” the coach added. “That’s why you got to play it.
”The Carew Classic, hosted by Canyon High, will be played mostly at Peralta Park in Anaheim. The championship is scheduled for Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
The tournament will feature seven teams ranked in the O.C. Top 10, including No.
1 Orange Lutheran (9-1 entering Tuesday).No. 2 Canyon (11-3), the county’s top-ranked team in the preseason, is the tournament’s top seed based on rankings conducted prior to the season, event organizer J.
R. Bennett said.Defending co-champion St.
Francis of Mountain View (7-0) is seeded second followed by Canyon del Oro of Arizona (15-0) and Orange Lutheran.JSerra, Mater Dei of Chula Vista, defending co-champion Norco and Poway round out the next four seeds.If Orange County’s season is any indication, be prepared for some upsets.
Orange Lutheran, El Modena and Canyon have each been ranked No. 1 early in the season.El Modena (11-3) claimed the top spot after capturing the Dave Kops Tournament of Champions in Bullhead City, Ariz.
but has joined Canyon in chasing Pacifica in the Crestview League.“The Top 10 (rankings), I wouldn’t want to do that,” Pacifica coach Tony Arduino said. “This year (in the playoffs), I have no idea (who will be the favorite) because I think anybody can beat anybody but OLu is tough.
”So why has there been so much parity?JSerra coach Katie Stith said the competitive balance may be cyclical but recognizes that Orange County graduated a ton of talent in 2024, especially in the circle.Pitchers such as Pacifica’s Brynne Nally (Long Beach State), Orange Lutheran’s Brianne Weiss (Notre Dame) and Huntington Beach’s Zoe Prystajko (Stanford) are now in college. Prystajko is 8-2 for the Cardinal.
“There’s not a ton of those super, overwhelming, overpowering kids, and in high school, that’s all the difference,” Stith said. “I have two good pitchers (Abby Ford and Liliana Escobar) but we don’t have offense to support them right now so it’s masked a little but.”“It’s a game of more precision and people having to execute the small things,” the coach added.
“I like it this way.”St. Francis and Canyon del Oro have intriguing pitching.
St. Francis hasn’t allowed a run so far this season and Canyon del Oro senior Amelia Streuber is committed to Oregon State.On Wednesday, the top first round games at Peralta Park are Pacifica-Fullerton at 3 p.
m. and JSerra-Huntington Beach at 3:15 p.m.
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