Softball Notebook: Monrovia's Making Noise in the Rio Hondo League

Over the last week, the Rio Hondo League saw its fair share marquee matchups. La Cañada was a part of two of them, defeating both Temple City and San Marino. San Marino made up the loss against the Spartans with a key win over South Pasadena to stay alive in the hunt for the top three spots in the league.

But then, there is Monrovia. Over the last week, the Wildcats participated in the Northview Tournament. Although they finished the tournament in third with a 2-0 win over Covina, they went undefeated. Their lone setback was against host Northview, when in the top of the seventh, the Vikings managed two runs to force a 4-4 tie against the Wildcats.

“Against Northview, we made some errors that cost us the first win, but we didn’t let that define us,” Wildcats coach Randy Medina said. “We went ahead and came back and hit the heck out of the ball the next two games. Knowing that Covina is a tough opponent, I was very proud how the girls responded.”

Monrovia over that tournament outscored its opponents 37-6. The Wildcats also return league play winning four of their last five and eight of their last 11 to state their as one of the hottest teams in the area.

“Everybody hit, everybody played well defensively, and we needed these games in the tournament to get ready for Rio Hondo,” Medina said. “We had been 14 days without a game previous to this, so we needed to knock out some rust and we had four games to do it. After these games, we are coming back in fresh and ready to go.”

The Wildcats are still riding on the success from their last game against San Marino. In that game, the Wildcats managed two runs off San Marino sophomore Michelle Floyd. The 2-0 shutout win has given this Wildcat team a lot of confidence.

“Floyd is an outstanding pitcher,” Medina said. “We felt that that win showed us the fact that we can play against every Rio Hondo League team. The game against La Cañada was our turning point after we fell to them, but we came back and played Temple City tough, taking them down to the last inning. To go out and beat San Marino finally gave us that momentum going into the second half knowing that we can compete.”

The Wildcats have not seen this kind of success since the 2007 season when they finished 21-4-1 and lost in the quarterfinals of the playoffs. Katie McWhirter earned first team All-CIF honors batting .443 with 18 runs and 14 RBIs. That team also boasted two pitchers in Samantha Rogers and Brittany Bateson, who each had a sub-1.00 ERA and combined for 157 strikeouts. Rogers also earned second team All-CIF honors that year.

This year, that kind of talent is beginning to form yet again. Through 18 games, Elise McCarthy is batting .456 and was a key part in beating San Marino’s top pitcher Michelle Floyd, scoring the team’s only two runs in the victory. Emmy Orozco has molded rather well lately in the circle, as well, throwing shutouts in five of her last seven appearances, including a one-hit shutout over the Titans in their last league game.

“Emmy came in as a transfer student to us, so we didn’t know a whole lot about her coming in,” Medina said. “She came in as a senior, but has really demonstrated that she is an all-around important utility player. She can catch. She can pitch. She is a position pitcher moving that ball to near perfection. The same goes for McCarthy, with her aggression at the plate really coming through for us.”

Currently the Wildcats sit amongst a three-way tie with Temple City and San Marino for second place at 2-2 and two and a half games behind first-place La Cañada. They resume Rio Hondo League play with a crucial matchup against La Cañada this Wednesday at home at 3:30 p.m.

La Cañada’s dominant week

The Spartans came through in the clutch, winning two key Rio Hondo league games against Temple City and San Marino to sit alone atop the league standings at 5-0. On pace for their third straight league title, they have fared very well with the success of Lauren O’Leary, throwing back-to-back complete games.

O’Leary has been nothing short of sensational this year, posting a miniscule 0.39 ERA in 90 innings. O’Leary has given up just five earned runs on 41 hits this year and has 114 strikeouts to 17 walks.

Since Spartans coach KC Mathews took over the program back in 2008, the team has gradually improved year after year, culminating in a 25-5 campaign last year. La Cañada has also made the playoffs each year under Mathews but has fallen short of reaching the finals. Last year the Spartans came just one game short of achieving that goal, losing to South Hills in the CIF-Southern Section Division 5 semifinals.

This season they are on pace of to top their record from last year, but Mathews and the Spartans’ squad are not looking ahead into the future.

“After a game like San Marino, our next approach is to win on Wednesday when we face Monrovia, and that’s it,” Mathews said. “This team has done an incredible job taking things one game at a time, and that has been our success so far.”

Player of the week: Kelly Wang, Flintridge Prep

Against one of the more powerful teams in Prep League, the Rebels of Flintridge Prep pulled of a major upset over Mayfield last Tuesday, winning 2-1 on a game winning RBI by Kelley Wang. It was her only hit at the plate, but her line drive to left field with the bases loaded not only gave her team the win, but also kept the Rebels undefeated in league play. Flintridge Prep currently sits at 6-2 and 4-0 in the PL.

“I was running on full adrenaline,” Wang said. “I wasn’t really thinking about the situation, but more so just knowing my teammates would back me up if I didn’t come through. We have been wanting to beat Mayfield for three years, so this has been as of right now an awesome way to keep my senior year rolling.”

Your Local League Breakdowns

More than half of the teams that we cover are still in the race for the top three spots in their league. Here are the updated standings as of April 18.

Rio Hondo League

1. La Cañada 12-3 (5-0)

2. San Marino 8-5 (2-2)

3. Monrovia 11-7-1 (2-2)

4. Temple City 9-7 (2-2)

5. South Pasadena 1-15-1 (0-5)

Prep League

1. Flintridge Prep 6-2 (4-0)

2. Rio Hondo Prep 9-4 (4-2)

3. Mayfield 6-7-1 (3-2-1)

4. Chadwick 3-4 (1-2)

5. Westridge 2-5-1 (1-3-1)

6. Poly 2-5 (1-3)

7. Webb 2-3 (0-2)

Pacific League

1. Burroughs 11-6 (5-0)

2. Crescenta Valley 12-3 (4-1)

3. Burbank 4-10 (3-2)

4. Arcadia 3-7 (2-2)

5. Hoover 3-4 (1-2)

6. Glendale 1-8 (1-2)

7. Pasadena 3-8 (1-4)

8. Muir 0-4 (0-4)

Games from Last Week:

Crescenta Valley 8, Arcadia 1; Notre Dame 7, Flintridge Sacred Heart 2; La Cañada 4, Temple City 2; La Cañada 2, San Marino 0; La Cañada 2, La Reina 0; La Cañada 3, Oxnard 0; San Marino 11, South Pasadena 1; La Salle 9, Bishop Montgomery 1; St. Paul 4, La Salle 3; La Salle 11, South Pasadena 2; La Salle 11, South Pasadena 0

Games on Tap

Tuesday: Pasadena at Crescenta Valley, 3:30 p.m.; Flintridge Prep at Westridge, 3:30 p.m.; Pasadena Poly at South Pasadena, 3:30 p.m.; Arcadia at Burbank, 3:30 p.m.

Wednesday: La Cañada at Monrovia, 3:30 p.m.; San Marino at Temple City, 3:30 p.m.

Thursday: Crescenta Valley at Muir, 3:30 p.m.; Flintridge Sacred Heart at Marymount, 3:30 p.m.; Flintridge Prep at Poly, 3:30 p.m.; Arcadia at Burroughs, 3:30 p.m.

Friday: South Pasadena at La Cañada, 7:00 p.m.

Saturday: La Cañada at Thousand Oaks, 2:00 p.m.*, La Cañada at Tournament Winner/Loser, Time TBA*

*Thousand Oaks Tournament (Thousand Oaks High)

Manny Nunez's "Softball Notebook" appears weekly across all Patch sites in the San Gabriel Valley.