Freshmen-led Whitney Wildcats softball team takes CIF Division II section crown

Yahoo

26-05-2025

The rivalry between Rocklin and Whitney high schools in Placer County is about as good as it gets across all sports.
Named in recognition of the city of Rocklin's granite mining history dating back to the Civil War, the 'Quarry' rivalry is always sure to fill the seats, no matter the venue. Rocklin, which opened in 1993, and Whitney, which opened in 2005 about 3½ miles away, penned another chapter Saturday afternoon in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section's Division II softball final.
These two rivals are responsible for the last two D-II championships. Rocklin won a 10-inning thriller over Tracy in 2024, while Whitney downed Vacaville in 2023. Each school has two championship softball banners hanging proudly in their gyms, and the chance for a third and major bragging rights in the city of Rocklin hung in the balance.
It was a bevy of underclassmen leading the charge to another Whitney championship. Freshman pitcher Taylor Cordell tossed a two-hit shutout, and fellow classmate Bri Seffens laced a go-ahead RBI single and made a spectacular catch in right field to punctuate a 2-0 win over top-seeded Rocklin at Sacramento State's Shea Stadium.
Cordell worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the first inning and cruised from the second inning on. She only allowed a two-out single in the second and a one-out double in the third before retiring the final 14 hitters she faced, including six by strikeout.
'I was a little nervous, I'm not gonna lie,' Cordell said. 'But I just knew, I felt it, we were gonna win this. There was no way we were gonna let them just defeat us again.'
After Seffens' RBI single in the sixth made it 1-0, Emma Rabe drove in an insurance run in the top of the seventh that scored Alyssa Flindt for a 2-0 Wildcats lead. Seffens also laid out for a catch in right field in the bottom of the sixth, diving toward the right field fence to keep Rocklin off the bases.
Senior Aliyah Lomuljo, who scored the game's first run, made a diving catch in shallow left field to end the game and send Whitney into a frenzied celebration.
'It was a long time getting here,' Lomuljo said. 'We've been working really hard. We knew after that first run, the 'Cats just had to stay hot. We had great energy and great vibes all the way through the game, and we just knew if we keep the intensity high, we would come through.'
Rocklin defeated Whitney in all three regular season meetings in the Sierra Foothill League. But the Whitney victory Saturday gives the Wildcats a 3-2 edge over the Thunder in softball section titles.
'We never give up, never, never,' Cordell said. 'We're always in the game, always. And let's just say everybody's like a bunch of goofballs. And I think that really helps us out a lot. We always keep the positive vibes going.'
With all of the history in the storied rivalry between the two schools, there has only been one prior instance where the Thunder and Wildcats have gone head-to-head for a Sac-Joaquin Section championship. It was in 2019, when the Thunder boys tennis team downed the Wildcats 6-3.
Whitney head coach April Steele won a section title as a player with Casa Roble, and now her daughter, junior Brooklyn Steele, has two with Whitney.
Rocklin senior Katie Wetteland roped a double and fellow senior Kamryn Buffington had a single for the Thunder's only two hits of the game. Sophomore starter Payton Prior, who went all 10 innings for the win in the 2024 final, tossed seven innings with just three hits allowed and 10 strikeouts.
Both teams qualify for the CIF Northern California Regional championship tournament, which begins June 3 and culminates with regional finals on June 7.
Nick Pecoraro is a sports journalist and host of 'Premier Preps with Nick Pecoraro,' a weekly prep show available on YouTube that recaps games and teams in the Sacramento area each week. Find it at youtube.com/@PremierPreps.