For the first time all season, the Riverside Prep softball team found itself exactly where it didn’t want to be.
Its freshman ace was struggling to find the strike zone. Great Oak had already pushed three runs across the plate. The Silver Knights trailed by two runs after an inning that saw both pitchers combine for 69 pitches in the first inning at Deanna Manning Stadium.
The response was exactly what Riverside Prep has spent an entire season building toward.
Confidence and composure.
In the end, it led to a championship plaque.
Riverside Prep erased an early two-run deficit with a three-run fifth inning, while freshman pitcher Lila Morris settled down after a rocky start and dominated the rest of the way as the Silver Knights defeated Great Oak 4-3 Saturday, May 30, to capture the CIF-Southern Section Division 3 championship.
The title is the first in program history and makes Riverside Prep just the sixth High Desert softball program to win a CIF-Southern Section championship.
“It feels better than I imagined it would,” Riverside Prep head coach Lou Allan said amid a jubilant postgame celebration that included several TikTok videos. “You can hear them behind me. I’m able to go home tonight extremely proud of these girls.
“At the end of the day it didn’t matter what was going to happen. I mean, I was proud of this season we’ve had in general and we had nothing to lose going into this game. It was win or oh well. I don’t even know how to put it into words other than just being so proud of everything that these girls have bought into over the entire season and being the best that they can be.”
For a team that had spent months proving it belonged among Southern California’s elite, Saturday’s championship tested Riverside Prep immediately.
The Silver Knights struck first when Meeka Martinez walked to open the game, stole second and third base, then raced home when Great Oak’s throw to third skipped away during Daisy Hernandez’s at-bat.
But the momentum quickly shifted.
Great Oak answered with three runs in the bottom of the first. Sydney Smith opened the inning with a double and later scored on a hard ground ball by Chloe Koenigshofer that glanced off the glove of third baseman Breeanna Garcia. Adriana Castillo followed with an RBI single to give the Wolfpack a 2-1 lead.
The Wolfpack threatened to do even more damage after loading the bases with one out. Morris, however, delivered perhaps the first of several game-changing moments. She escaped the jam with a fielder’s choice and a strikeout, limiting the damage to three runs despite throwing 33 pitches in the inning.
“It really felt like I couldn’t find a way to get through the inning,” Morris said. “I knew I would. And hey, it was only three runs and knowing my team, we are never out of it.”
Morris’ confidence proved prophetic.
Great Oak pitcher Graclyn Necochea looked nearly untouchable early, recording the first seven outs she collected by strikeout. She struck out the side in the second inning and carried that 3-1 lead into the fifth.
Then Riverside Prep finally broke through. With two outs, Sadie Martinez and Garcia delivered back-to-back singles to ignite the rally.
Hernandez followed with a ground ball to third base that was misplayed, allowing Martinez to score and cut the deficit to one.
Moments later, Obie Obregon delivered the biggest swing of the night.
The Riverside Prep catcher hit a sharp ground ball to second base that was bobbled, allowing Garcia and Hernandez to race home for the lead.
“I was so happy,” Obregon said. “I’m not really good with outside pitches. But if it’s something I have to do for my team, I will do it no matter what. Extension or not. I was just so happy that they scored and everyone did their job.”
Now it was Morris’ turn to finish what her teammates had started.
After surrendering three runs in the opening inning, the freshman retired eight consecutive batters and completely shut down the Great Oak offense. A hit batter to lead off the sixth ended the streak, but Morris never wavered.
No Wolfpack hitter reached base again.
With Riverside Prep clinging to a one-run lead in the seventh inning, Morris got Koenigshofer looking for the final out of the game.
Obregon, Riverside Prep’s catcher, knew immediately that it was time to celebrate.
“I knew it was a strike as soon as I caught it,” she said. “I framed it right. The motion was right. I just knew it was there.”
Morris wasn’t quite as certain.
“I was just waiting for the call because I didn’t know if he was going to give that call to me,” Morris said. “But once I saw my catcher’s reaction, I knew we got the call.”
The freshman finished with five strikeouts while allowing two earned runs on four hits and two walks over seven innings. Necochea was equally impressive in defeat, striking out 10 while allowing one earned run on four hits and five walks.
For Allan, the comeback felt familiar.
Throughout the season, Riverside Prep built its identity around staying calm when adversity arrived. Saturday’s championship was simply the latest example.
“We could start off a little shaky,” Allan said. “But at the end of the day I know that they are going to pull it out because they are able to really calm themselves down and just play the game that they’ve always played. It’s just another softball game.”
This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Riverside Prep captures CIF-SS softball Division 3 championship
Reporting by Jose Quintero, Victorville Daily Press / Victorville Daily Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
