WOODLAKE — The Lara family has been instrumental to the Tigers’ unprecedented high school softball championship run.
Behind the duo of Woodlake head coach Ramon Lara and his daughter and player, Ella, the Tigers captured their second straight CIF State Division IV SoCal Championship on June 6, beating Grossmont-El Cajon 14-4 via the 10-run, five-inning mercy rule in the regional final.
Woodlake (31-4) also won its third straight Central Section championship in May, claiming the Division V crown at Fresno State’s Margie Wright Diamond. The Tigers won the Central Section Division IV title in 2025 and the Division V plaque in 2024.
Ramon has served as the Woodlake head coach since 2022. Since his inaugural season, the Tigers have posted a combined 133-17-1 record. Woodlake’s 133 victories are the most for a Tulare County softball program during that span.
Ella, a four-year starter, has been part of three East Sequoia League championship teams, three Central Section title squads and a pair of state regional championship clubs.
“Being able to coach her for four years, it’s been a lot of fun,” Ramon said. “There’s good days and bad days, just like everything else, but it’s enjoyable getting to see her grow up, develop, being able to be around her every day. Seeing her work hard to get where we got, too, it’s a little extra rewarding because my daughter was a part of it.”
A family affair
Ramon, a 2000 Woodlake grad, takes pride in his community.
A two-sport standout during his high school days in baseball and football, Ramon left home to attend college at UC Santa Cruz.
When he graduated, Ramon came back to Woodlake because he was proud of his roots.
That led to his becoming Woodlake’s city manager and, eventually, the Tigers’ head softball coach.
Ramon has coached Ella since she was a youth, and the two have spent hours upon hours working on softball, whether that’s fielding, hitting or throwing.
That extra time dedicated to sport paid off.
As a senior, Ella was one of Tulare County’s elite players with a .582 batting average. She blasted a team-high 57 hits, including 16 doubles, 10 triples and two home runs, with 58 runs and a team-leading 60 RBIs.
The coach’s daughter also stole 27 bases.
“It’s been one of the best opportunities, being able to create these core memories, not just with my dad but with my team, who are like my sisters,” Ella said. “The other coaches are like second fathers to me, so being able to create memories like these, not just winning state and Valley championships, but the team-bonding and the barbeques, those are probably the best memories for me.”
Ella culminated her softball career as one of the best players in program history,
In four seasons, she finished with a .495 batting average, never dipping below .350 each season, and also amassed 184 runs, 142 hits, 140 RBIs, 35 doubles, 17 triples and a pair of home runs.
How did Ella reach those totals?
“My whole softball career, he’s had the biggest impact on my life,” Ella said of dad. “He’s the best coach I could ask for. He’s taught me everything I know about softball.”
Dad has taught Ella life lessons, too, like how hard work can lead to success.
When she needs an example, all she has to do is watch her dad go from work in the mornings as the Woodlake city manager to coach in the afternoons.
“Seeing my dad work as hard as he does pushes me to be the best that I can be,” Ella said. “For not only me but for him — to make him proud.”
That mentality was on full display the day of Woodlake’s state regional title game against Grossmont (20-12-1) on June 6.
Before the championship showdown, to get ready for the game, Ella completed two rounds of hitting whiffle balls with dad at home.
When they got early to the stadium, Ella was in the cages, working on her hitting.
That extra effort resulted in a memorable finale and a championship stat line — five RBIs, a double, two walks and a run. That led to a 10-run victory.
“I think that helped me work out any kinks that could have happened with my swing,” Ella said. “Just being able to feel my swing before the game actually happened, I think it really benefited me.”
The perfect ending
It was a dream season for the Laras.
Woodlake graduated six seniors, including four four-year starters, from last season’s historic regional state championship team, but the Tigers reloaded and carried that momentum into 2026.
After a forfeit loss to Central Valley Christian in its season opener in February, Woodlake reeled off eight straight wins.
That success continued throughout the spring despite back-to-back defeats to South Bakersfield and Dinuba in late March.
The Tigers responded after that two-game skid with a dominating shutout run, beating Delano, Mira Monte, Orosi and Sanger West by a combined score of 51-0 to jumpstart a 21-game winning streak.
That championship march was anchored by:
That unit helped Woodlake win at least 30 games for the second consecutive season. The Tigers went 30-1 last year.
“The girls, we were all really determined,” Ella said. “We all had the same goals. We all knew that we wanted to win for each other. We never really let, like, one person get too big for the team. We all played for each other. The coaches did an amazing job preparing us for this moment, and I think a lot of it goes back to the coaches and the girls’ mentality throughout the season.”
Under Ramon’s leadership, Woodlake has been one of the section’s premier programs, regardless of division.
Since the 2022 season, Ramon’s first year in charge, the Tigers have averaged nearly 27 wins per campaign.
How did the Tigers’ head coach transform Woodlake into a state championship program?
“It’s a huge group effort,” Ramon said. “We have a good coaching staff. Not just myself and Adrian [Aldana], but also Greg Leak, who’s our pitching coach, and Vince Rojo, who’s our hitting coach. Just day in and day out, the girls come out and want to do the work, so that makes it enjoyable for us to come out here and work with them and make them better. We had a group of girls who wanted to get better. They were willing to put in the work and just didn’t go through the motions. That made it easy for us.”
And it didn’t stop there.
“When you have a good group of supportive parents, especially in a small community, it goes a long way,” Ramon said. “We can only do so much with the kids. These parents, they’re so supportive of everything that we do.”
How special has it been to coach Ella?
“It’s a dream, right?” Ramon said. “Being able to watch her grow and develop and being around her day in and day out, watching her succeed, watching the girls around her succeed, is a dream. I think one thing all the other coaches would tell you is, ‘I came in with one daughter. I’m leaving with about 15.'”
This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: How a father and daughter built a softball dynasty at Woodlake
Reporting by Vongni Yang, Visalia Times-Delta / Visalia Times-Delta
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Vongni Yang, Visalia Times-Delta | USA TODAY Network
