CIF-Southern Section softball Division I championship preview: Orange Lutheran and Pacifica face off - Athlon Sports Nation Skip to main content
National high school girls spring sports plays of the week 5-14-2024
National high school girls spring sports plays of the week 5-14-2024

CIF-Southern Section softball Division I championship preview: Orange Lutheran and Pacifica face off

Star pitchers Brynne Nally and Brianne Weiss lead two of the nation's top teams into battle

There's no softball tournament in the country like the CIF-Southern Section playoffs – especially in the dogfight known as Division I.

Two familiar Orange County foes, Orange Lutheran and Pacifica-Garden Grove – ranked No. 2 and No. 3 in California, respectively – will battle in the finals after playing twice in the regular season. Both teams are led by elite senior pitchers and have been untouchable for many weeks leading up to the finals.

Here's a preview of their upcoming meeting for a CIF-SS D1 title.

MORE: CIF-SS SOFTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE | ALL CALIFORNIA SOFTBALL BRACKETS

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DIVISION I: Orange Lutheran (21-3) vs. Pacifica-Garden Grove (26-2)

WHEN: Friday, May 17 at 7 p.m.

WHERE: Deanna Manning Stadium at Bill Barber Memorial Park (Irvine)

PATH TO THE FINALS – ORANGE LUTHERAN: 12-0 record (1st place) in Trinity League; defeated Capistrano Valley 11-7, Canyon-Anaheim 7-4, and Murrieta Mesa 13-1

PATH TO THE FINALS – PACIFICA: 10-0 record (1st place) in Empire League; defeated South Hills 4-3, Oaks Christian 13-2, and JSerra 1-0

HEAD COACH – ORANGE LUTHERAN: Steve Miklos

HEAD COACH – PACIFICA: Tony Arduino

THREE TO SEE – ORANGE LUTHERAN: 

  • P Brianne Weiss – Sr. (Notre Dame): 19-1, 0.75 ERA, 234 K's in 130.1 innings
  • OF Kai Minor – Jr.: .426 BA, 19 RBIs, 4 HR, 26 R, 1.271 OPS
  • SS/2B Mya Diaz – Sr.: .403 BA, 13 RBIs, 1 HR, 23 R, 1.020 OPS

THREE TO SEE – PACIFICA: 

  • P Brynne Nally – Sr. (Long Beach State): 18-2, 1.05 ERA, 125 K's in 120 innings; .286 BA, 14 RBIs
  • C/OF Delaina Maae – Sr. (UCSB): .540 BA, 20 RBIs, 3 HR, 1.522 OPS
  • SS Kaniya Bragg – Sr. (UCLA): .429 BA, 26 RBIs, 7 HR, 28 R, 1.423 OPS

BREAKDOWN:

This is a tossup between two of the best teams in the state and country. And both squads have a "team of destiny" feel. 

Pacifica arguably arrived early a year ago, and is coming off a considerably better regular season than in its 2023 championship campaign. With an incredible senior core including Nally, Bragg, Maae, and CSU Fullerton-bound 1B Annika Sogsti, plus some emerging star underclassmen like outfielders Mattea Stern and Micheala Meza, the Mariners opened 2024 widely ranked No. 1 in the country. They didn't retain the top spot too far into the season due to a pair of losses in late March at the Michelle Carew Classic, but those losses came against elite teams and proved to be the Mariners' only two of the year (through the semifinals). In short, the reigning section champs have lived up to the billing as a national championship contender.  

On the other hand, Orange Lutheran is long cemented as one of the nation's most revered programs, but hasn't gotten over the hump for a CIF-SS title in more than 20 years. From the start of the season, it's been clear that this is the Lancers' most consistent and balanced offense in a while. Combine that with the senior campaign of Weiss – one of California's better high school pitchers in recent history – and it's been clear all year that OLu has its best contender in some time.

There have been recent seasons where the Lancers had a few more big-name bats, but this team is more balanced than many of its predecessors. Its lineup is deeper and faster on the base paths, with Minor and Diaz flanked by another .400 hitter in highly-touted sophomore Madelyn Armendariz, clutch power-hitter Zara Mineo-Schrank, and multiple others who've helped the team thrive on timely hitting. And OLu has one of its stronger defensive outfits in recent years as well.

To make matters more intriguing, these teams split two meetings this year, with both games coming in highly-abbreviated in tournament games. Pacifica won 3-0 in four innings in early March at the Dave Kops TOC, and the Lancers returned the favor late in the month by a score of 5-1 in five innings at the Carew Classic. Weiss and Nally were in the circle for both games, so there's not much separating the sides here. Both have been on top of their game since long before the end of the regular season – in fact, neither has lost since they met at the Carew – and both have showed this postseason that they can win in pitching duels or barn-burners alike. 

It's hard to imagine either team getting toppled, but someone has to lose.

NOTES: 

Bragg took Weiss deep in both at-bats in the first matchup, while freshmen Mattea Stern and Shay Kletke were the only Mariners to get hits off Weiss in the rematch... Mineo-Schrank was 2-2 with two doubles and three RBIs against Nally in the second meeting... Nally threw a three-hit shutout against JSerra in the semifinals... In three playoff games, Diaz is 7-11 with three extra-base hits, seven RBIs, and seven runs scored...

(Lead photo by Heston Quan)