Granada Hills finally breaks through to beat Carson for City Section softball title
Addison Moorman could finally breathe. The senior pitcher couldn't hold her emotions back. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she embraced her teammates on Cal State Northridge's softball diamond.
A year ago, she struck out 19 batters — only to fall short 1-0 in14 innings. Two years previous, Granada Hills was one run away from City Section glory.
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On Saturday in Northridge, so close to home, the City Section Open Division title, the program's first since 1981, was Moorman's — and the Highlanders — to celebrate in an 11-2 drubbing of archrival Carson. Moorman put the team on her back, striking out 11 while giving up just four hits and two earned runs across her complete-game performance.
'It feels so good to go out on top, especially against [Carson],' said Moorman, who signed with Lehigh in November. 'To finally beat them, overcome that hurdle and then leave as a champion, feels really great.'
Carson held a 1-0 lead early in the game when Atiana Rodriguez and Letu'u Simi combined for back-to-back doubles in the second inning, but from the bottom of the second onward, it was all Granada Hills at the plate.
The Highlanders capitalized off of two Colts errors in the second inning. Second baseman Lainey Brown and right fielder Elysse Diaz singled home runs, while Giselle Merida tripled to bring home another.
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'I've been waiting,' said Diaz who went two for four with two RBIs and a double. 'It was just boiling and boiling and then here, [the offense] just exploded.'
By the time Moorman returned to the circle for her third inning of work, Granada Hills had scored seven runs on six hits against Carson pitcher Giselle Pantoja — who shut the Highlanders down in 2024 — building a cushion for its star pitcher to go out and do what she'd done all season: dominate.
''Every time a pitcher always feels that burden of carrying the team, and [Moorman] dealt with it well,' said Granada Hills coach Ivan Garcia. 'Her character is greater than her talent, the way she handles her teammates, the way she leads by example. I mean, you wouldn't know that she's a star pitcher, the way she puts bases away, the way she cleans up.'
Moorman made just one big mistake on Saturday — leaving a pitch over the plate to Colts center fielder Rylee Gardner, who desposited the ball over the center-field wall for a solo home run (her eighth of the year) in the sixth inning.
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Otherwise, Moorman kept Carson off balance all game. She set down 13 consecutive batters between the second and sixth innings, striking out her 11th batter of the game as the penultimate at-bat of her high school career.
For Moorman, winning a CIF title just 10 minutes away from Granada Hills High, was a moment worth savoring, she said. For Garcia — who said he was happy to see his team goofing off and having fun at a pregame lunch, loosening up before the biggest game of his coaching career — he is looking forward to the 1981 title no longer lurking around his shoulders.
'Third time's the charm,' he said.
Earlier in the day in Northridge, Taft won its first City Section title in the softball program's history with an 8-3 victory over Marquez in the Division II final. Legacy made no doubt of its City Section Division I title triumph later Saturday afternoon, shutting out Port of Los Angeles 5-0.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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