SRHS softball team enters final stretch
By Hector Trujillo
The Scripps Ranch High School (SRHS) varsity softball team looks to close out its final six games of the 2023 regular season strong with CIF playoffs right around the corner despite starting off with a 2-7-1 record over the first 10 games.
SRHS lost some close ones including two by one-run – first to Mission Hills High on March 4 and another to Rancho Buena Vista High on April 6. The team also had to settle for a draw against Westview High School early in the season that could have been another victory after taking an early three-run lead.
In the remaining six games, all but one of which are league contests, SRHS has an opportunity to make some noise and put the team in prime position for the postseason.
“I expect us to make a run at winning Western League and I also expect us to make the top 12 for CIF Division II,” said head coach Jay Russell. “We were in Division I last year and this is the first year we’ve been in Division II. So, we’re just trying to battle our way back into Division I.”
The six remaining games will be split evenly between home and away, starting on April 27 versus University City high, followed by back-to-back home games against Cathedral Catholic High on May 2, and then Mission Bay High School on May 4. The Lady Falcons will then travel to take on Mira Mesa High School on May 6 before another road game on May 9 versus Academy of Our Lady of Peace, then close out the regular season at home against Patrick Henry High School on May 11. Scripps Ranch beat Patrick Henry in their first head to head matchup last season, a 5-4 nail-biter fending off a last-inning rally by the Patriots.
“For me, there is no one standout because the whole team is producing the same,” Russell said. “I have 14 players on this team and they’re all producing. I have three good pitchers, so it’s not just one or two standing out, they are all contributing equally.”
SRHS ended last season with a 5-21 record when the team was still in Division I and hopes a good showing in the CIF playoffs will get them back playing in that division where they were competing for several years.
“We’re actually better than our record – quite a bit better. We’re just playing a really tough schedule,” Russell said.
