Bernstein High Girls “CITY CHAMPS”
A few days before the commencement ceremony took place there were smiles and cheers as I stepped on the campus of Bernstein High. Students walked the campus with a “pep in their step.” History was made as the schooled earned its first Los Angeles Unified softball City Championship.
By Earl Heath | Contributing Sports Writer
A few days before the commencement ceremony took place there were smiles and cheers as I stepped on the campus of Bernstein High. Students walked the campus with a “pep in their step.” History was made as the schooled earned its first Los Angeles Unified softball City Championship.
The Dragons knocked off Southeast high 8-2 to claim the Division lll title. The team had its moments and wasn’t completely unified all season. They went through things as a young team do. “They earned it,” said head coach Chad Finch. “Everyone was completely proud of the girls.”
It was a long and winding road as at times the team appeared unfocused at the simplest things like throw to the wrong base and maybe swinging at a high pitch on a 3-0 count.
It was a silly 8-6 loss to Mendez high that changed the whole season. They were clearly the better team.
“The hunger finally came out of them and from then on we had no fear no matter how many runs the other team scored.”
The team’s motto was “believe and respect.”
They then went on a roll defeating Contreras 29-13, in the first round of the playoffs USC Masters 23-16, Rancho Dominguez 14-13 in (9), Panorama 18 – 6, and then Southeast for the Championship.
A near stumbling block came before the quarterfinal game verses Rancho Dominguez High. It was Grad-Night and all the seniors went to the “happiest place on earth”- Disneyland. When the evening was finished and they all had breakfast it was 5:00 AM. Five of them (seniors) called their parents and let them know they weren’t coming home. They all stayed at the same place near the school. This so they could get up and not miss school. If a player misses school they cannot play in a game that day.
When they took on RD the team was sluggish but scored four runs in the sixth inning to take a 13-9 lead. However things turned quickly, in the top of the seventh they gave up 4 runs and were force to go extra innings.
In the top of the ninth with two outs second baseman Anai Lorenzo snagged a line drive with runners on 2nd and 3rd to end a threat. In the bottom of the ninth Anai put down a perfect bunt for the single, stole second on the next pitch, and Leonor Perez (#20 a senior) went to “Rip City” with a shot to the gap in right center, Anai scored from second and the Dragons moved on.
Lorenzo is a sophomore who started since her freshman year she played youth softball. She has a brother Alexander and sister Nubia are all proud of her winning the title.
“The student body was shocked and proud of us,” said Lorenzo. “There were smiles and congratulations coming from all of them.”
She has a goal of attending college becoming a nurse.
“After winning we got a lot of praise,” said senior Madelynn Ratcliff. “We were recognized all around the school. Ratcliff is headed to the University of Arizona and wants to become an ICU nurse.
Ingrid Santiago ended the season with a11-6 record and 55 strike outs,”I love playing the game,” she said. She has a sister Jessica and brother Pedro who will see her off to CAL Berkley this fall as psychology major.
“I always wanted to work with kids.”
“We got a lot of recognition from everyone at school,” Emily Rivera was one of the few that played at Lemon Grove Rec Center.
She has a big sister Zully and brothers Steven 12 and Aiden 7. She wants to be a physical therapist and is eyeing San Diego State university.
Kim Hernandez is the teams anchor in just her second year playing she leads the team with a .754 batting average. She was ‘hotter than July going 15 for 18 during the play-off run. She was named MVP of the tournament.
“Before the championship we were just a softball players, we became a team during the season,” Hernandez stated.
“I like playing defense that’s why third base is for me, a lot of balls get hit there.” She is headed off to Cal State University Fullerton as a psychology major.
“We had to get the girls to believe,” said assistant coach Michelle Solorazano. Once they believed in themselves you could see the change in attitude’s.”
“Coach Solo” as she’s called by the kids won back-to-back CIF titles 2005 and 2006 while working at Cantwell High in Montebello. She spent 10 years there before moving on to coach at ELAC and Cerritos Colleges. She has a degree in kinesiology from Cal State Los Angeles.
She motivated them by showing them her rings and coming up with the motto “believe and respect”. “I told them if they win they would be part of the school forever and no one could take it away from them,” said Solorazano.
The school has no ‘feeder- system’ where players come from a park league or a travel ball club where they can develop as a player. Most of the players played the first organized game on the Bernstein campus
The school was founded in 2008 to relieve over-crowding at nearby Marshall and Hollywood high schools. Its a school where more than 80-percent of the students are from low –income households.
It joins the Dragon girls XC won Div III City Championship in the Fall also coached by Finch. Also the 2015 Boys Basketball Div III, 2016 Boys Basketball Div II.
It was a special feet to accomplish and I believe Emily Rivera summed up the season, “We showed we can pull together no matter what’s in front of us.”
