It took nearly a decade to get it done, but the Aptos High softball team is once again champion of the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League, bringing home a league crown for the first time since 2018.
They also became the first team to go undefeated in league play at 15-0 since San Lorenzo Valley accomplished the feat with a 13-0 record in 2023.
“It’s a huge accomplishment, and I’m really proud of all my teammates for always having my back behind the mound, which is really great,” said Aptos junior starting pitcher Mya Najera-White following a 7-4 win over Soquel in the teams’ regular season finale May 16.
Najera-White added, “It feels like a new step stone that we conquered together as one instead of alone.”
It wasn’t the first or second time a team has gone unbeaten in SCCAL play. Scotts Valley finished with a 12-0 record in 2015, the Mariners finished 12-0 in 2008 and one-time members Watsonville had an unblemished record of 12-0 in 2003.
Aptos now has a total of 12 SCCAL championships, jumping ahead of SLV with 11 and Soquel sitting at 10.
“It feels great,” Aptos junior Emma Burgueno said. “We’ve all grown from where we started and we became sisters at the end to pull it all together.”
Aptos (22-4 overall) was recognized as one of the best teams in the Central Coast Section playoffs after it earned a No. 3 seed in the Division I bracket.
The Mariners will host No. 6 Palo Alto (19-4), champion of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League’s El Camino Division, in the quarterfinals on Saturday at noon.
“I’m really excited for the kids and coaches,” Aptos head coach Phil Rojas Jr. said. “It’s rewarding and an honor to be in D-1. We just keep building the program and want to be recognized by the CCS. We will give it our best.”
Freshman pitcher Samantha Prabhu has been an ace in the circle for Palo Alto with a 15-3 overall record in 20 appearances this season. She currently has a 0.44 earned run average while tallying 226 strikeouts, according to the Max Preps website.
Prabhu can be a threat at the plate, as well. She is currently batting a .534 average (31 of 58) with six doubles, three triples, two home runs, 27 runs scored, 19 RBIs and 13 stolen bases for a Vikings team that has a total of 114 steals.
Fellow freshmen Emmylou Filo and Lauren Boyce are also batting above a .500 average.
Filo leads the team with 36 hits, including three home runs, five triples, five doubles, 25 runs scored, 19 RBIs and 14 stolen bases. Boyce has 26 hits, including three doubles, one triple, 21 runs scored and 11 RBIs.
Aptos also has an arsenal of weapons, starting with an ace pitcher of their own in Najera-White. She currently has a 2.75 ERA while racking up 122 strikeouts in 23 appearances this season, according to the Max Preps website.
The Mariner standout is batting a .344 average (21 for 61), including four home runs, three doubles, 19 runs scored and 15 RBIs. Burgueno is batting a .353 average (24 for 68) with three doubles, one triple, 22 runs scored and 13 RBIs.
Teammate sophomore Gwen Vaca has a team-best 32 hits, including 11 doubles, one triple, three home runs, 33 runs scored, 20 RBIs and 12 stolen bases.
Other sluggers for Aptos include senior Laines Nunez, juniors Kalina Healy and Nova Neu, and freshmen Angie Lopez and Sofia Marin.
Healy is batting a .420 average (29 for 69), including a team-best six home runs, to go along with seven doubles, 24 runs scored, 23 RBIs and eight stolen bases.
“It’s a mixture of youth and leadership,” Rojas Jr. said. “It’s just being confident, and that kind of leads to what happened all the way through to win 15 games in a row.”
On top of being able to play consistently great ball, this year’s group of Mariners have also been resilient throughout the spring campaign. It showed in last week’s season finale when they trailed Soquel, 2-0, after the first two frames.
Aptos chipped away with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third before taking a 3-2 lead in the fourth. They added three more runs in the next inning and jumped ahead for good at 7-4 with an insurance run in the sixth.
Burgueno and Najera-White both agreed the SCCAL is jam-packed with competitors, which made winning a league title with an unblemished record all that much more difficult.
“I think we have trust in each other, we definitely pick each other up and we’re all really good friends,” Burgueno said. “Being able to go and talk to your teammate after you struggle, they’ll put that confidence back in you.”
Both Burgueno and Najera-White along with their teammates are feeling mighty confident heading into this weekend’s opening round of the CCS postseason.
Aptos came up one game short of a section title following a 4-3 loss to Westmont in the D-III finals, leaving some such as Najera-White with some unfinished business.
“I think getting so close to the championship for CCS, it definitely sparked something under us,” Najera-White said.
‘Catz earn spot in D-IV bracket: Watsonville had a down year in the challenging Pacific Coast Athletic League’s Gabilan Division after it placed fifth with a 3-12 record in league play.
However, competing in the top tier of the three divisions within the league still earned them an automatic qualifier spot in the CCS D-IV bracket.
The No. 8 Wildcatz play at top seed Notre Dame of Belmont, (13-11, 7-3) third place finisher in the Peninsula Athletic League’s Ocean Division, on Saturday at 4pm.
The Tigers are led by Skylar Loo, who is batting a .476 average (40 for 84) with three home runs, five triples, 16 doubles, 32 runs scored and 25 RBIs.
Teammate Juliette Ramirez has 29 base hits, including five doubles, 22 runs scored and 14 RBIs, while Claire Kimball has 27 hits, including three triples, three doubles, 19 runs scored and 14 RBIs.
Notre Dame is led by a trio of pitchers in Caroline Zerella, Brooke Lapin and Hailey Truong, who have a combined 94 strikeouts this season.
Watsonville is led by sophomore Isabella Ruiz, who is batting a .344 average (21 for 61) with two home runs, eight doubles, 14 RBIs and 10 runs scored.
Teammate junior Esperanza Sigala has 17 hits, including a pair of doubles, 10 RBIs and two runs scored, while senior Mia Espinoza has 14 hits, including four doubles, six RBIs and nine runs scored.
In the circle, senior pitcher Amelia Martinez has a 5.43 ERA while tallying 76 strikeouts for Watsonville (3-17-1).
