Two stars with a singular focus have the Oxnard High softball team on a historic ride.
Sophomore Destinee Herrera threw a four-hit shutout and junior Rachel Godoy hit a solo home run as the Yellowjackets edged host Monrovia, 1-0, in the CIF-Southern Section Division 4 semifinals on Saturday, May. 23.
“I’m proud of my team,” Herrera said. “I feel like we’ve come so far. We’ve done what we talked about.”
It is the first CIF-SS final berth for Oxnard.
“We’re coming for the ‘ship,” Herrera said.
Oxnard (17-10-1) will face Mission Viejo (16-15-1) for the CIF-SS Division 4 championship this weekend at Deanna Manning Stadium in Irvine. The day and time will be announced.
Oxnard had been 0-3 in sectional semifinals in 22 seasons under Oxnard coach Paul Tinoco and assistant Albert Pilip.
“It was big to get over the hump,” Tinoco said. “We’ve got to finish the ride.”
In tossing threw her third shutout in four playoff games, Herrera struck out eight without a walk.
“ ’D’ was holding them down,” Tinoco said. “She was throwing hard the whole game.”
The sophomore has yet to allow an earned run in 30 postseason innings. Opponents are hitting just .178 and have struck out 26 times.
Godoy produced the only run of the game with a solo shot to dead center field with two outs in the top of the third, ripping a line drive that clipped the top of the short fence 215 feet deep.
“It was honestly just, ‘See ball. Hit ball,’ ” Godoy said. “I was keeping it simple and not stressing too much.”
After singling in the top of the first, the home run was Godoy’s eight straight plate appearance reaching base. She reached in all six trips in the extra-inning quarterfinal win over St. Bonaventure. Godoy is hitting .642 in the postseason with a .686 on-base percentage and a 1.285 slugging average.
“She’s hitting so well,” said Herrera. “It really puts less stress on your pitcher when you know a big bat has your back.”
Alexis Haros was 1 for 2 and Herrera drew a walk at the plate as both teams were limited to four baserunners.
Playing without starting catcher Raelene Rangel and starting first baseman Shyanne Saxton, the Yellowjackets played a flawless game in the field after making seven errors in the quarterfinals.
“Everyone played their role,” Godoy said. “It really was just a team effort.”
Monrovia saved its best scoring chance for the bottom of the seventh.
Mikalah Ortega singled to right field with one out, moved to second on a ground out and stole third.
“I felt like we had the momentum and they couldn’t take the momentum from us,” Herrera said.
With the tying run 60 feet away, Herrera struck out the final Monrovia batter swinging.
“It was pretty tense,” Godoy said. “But I think we did really good at staying composed and not letting it get to us too much. At the end of the day, we just had fun and played together.”
Herrera had retired eight straight when Monrovia’s Madison Cardona singled to center field leading off the bottom of the third.
She was immediately erased on a double play — shortstop Kayla Lorona to second baseman Layla Mukul to first baseman Jazzlene Dominguez.
Herrera had retired seven straight when Monrovia’s Carly Polanco singled to right field with two outs in the bottom of the sixth. She was immediately stranded on a flyout.
“They were putting the ball in play,” Herrera said, “but it was nothing crazy.”
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: Herrera, Godoy propel Oxnard to first CIF-SS softball final berth
Reporting by Joe Curley, Ventura County Star / Ventura County Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
