Is it better to score the first six runs or the last six runs?
The Grace School softball team knows its preference.
Senior Grace Maguire reached base five times and the Salazar sisters both slugged home runs during the decisive six-run sixth inning as the Lancers overpowered visiting Jurupa Hills-Patriot, 16-10, in the CIF-Southern Section Division 5 semifinals on Saturday, May 23, in Simi Valley.
“It comes down to having pride for the game and not letting people just beat you up,” Maguire said. “Competing back and knowing it’s not over until it’s over.”
Maguire, the Nevada-Reno commit, went 4 for 4 with a triple and four runs scored to rally Grace and extend her high school career.
“I was just trying to pull my weight,” Maguire said. “I know I have my teammates behind me. I wasn’t trying to do too much. I was just trying to get on.”
In hitting its way to its first sectional final berth, Grace amassed 17 hits — including six for extra bases — and had 21 baserunners.
Grace (16-10) will play Northwood (14-7-1) for the CIF-SS Division 5 championship this weekend at Deanna Manning Stadium in Irvine. The day and time will be announced.
“It means everything,” Maguire said. “That was the goal the whole year. Being a senior and doing it now? There’s no other time to do it.”
All nine starters had hits. Eight of them scored runs.
“There were big moments for so many people on our team,” said Grace head coach Heidi Bird.
Down 8-5 in the bottom of the fourth, Grace tied the game 8-8 on Ava DePew’s three-run home run to center field.
“It was so exciting,” DePew siad. “I was just running around. Everyone was so loud.”
Tied 10-10, Grace grabbed the game with a six-run bottom of the sixth, powered by home runs both both Salazar sisters.
Freshman Lucy gave the Lancers the lead for good with a two-run blast to left field. Senior Rosy put the game away with a three-run blast to center field.
“I had to calm down the dugout,” Bird said.
Freshman Eden Tuso was 2 for 4 with three RBIs and three runs scored and earned the win in the circle with five innings of relief. Rosy Salazar went 2 for 5 with five RBIs and two runs scored. DePew drove in four runs.
“We all did it together and just passed the bat, which was good,” DePew said.
Patriot, which eliminated Santa Clara in the quarterfinals, scored five runs on six hits in the top of the first, adding another in the top of the second to build a 6-0 lead and bring Tuso into the circle.
“And we knew they were going to score more,” Bird said. “This is a very good hitting team. We had to be able to hit with them and just keep hitting with them.
The Lancers answered with five runs on seven hits in the bottom of the third, sparked by Tuso’s two-run double.
“They weren’t down. Yes, you could feel the energy was with the other team. But we’ve been there before,” Bird said.
Grace had just overcome a 3-0 first-inning deficit to edge Sun Valley-Shadow Hills in the quarterfinals.
Buoyed by a big home crowd, the Lancers went to work chipping away at the deficit.
“It was definitely really exciting,” Maguire said. “A lot of people were there. It was loud. But I don’t think any of us were thinking about it. We were just trying to play our game.”
Joe Curley covers softball for The Star. He can be reached at joe.curley@vcstar.com. For more coverage, follow @vcspreps on Twitter/X, Instagram/Threads, Facebook, Bluesky and TikTok.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Grace rallies from six-run deficit to reach CIF-SS softball final
Reporting by Joe Curley, Ventura County Star / Ventura County Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
