Support our high school sports coverage by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribe now.
WOODLAND HILLS — Granada Hills senior Franky Luster remembers a switch flipping during her sophomore year. That season, the Highlanders finished second in the West Valley League behind El Camino Real, then were shut out 10-0 by ECR in the City Section softball championships.
“I really can’t put my finger on it,” Luster said, “but my sophomore year we made it to the championship against El Camino and I think we realized, we can do this. We can be in the championship every year and that kind of sparked a fire for us.”
The Highlanders could be on track for another championship appearance. They beat ECR 9-4 on Friday afternoon to stay unbeaten in the West Valley League and to take sole possession of the league lead.
The win fanned Granada Hills’ competitive fire a little bit more. Although this year’s group is young — Luster is the team’s only senior — they’re accountable, focused and put adequate pressure on themselves.
Granada Hills pitcher Addison Moorman throws to the plate against El Camino Real, Friday, April 14, 2023, at El Camino Real. (Photo by Michael Owen Baker, Contributing Photographer)
Granada Hills’ Jasmine Soriano scores before the tag of El Camino Real catcher Amber Rivas after advancing from third on a hit, Friday, April 14, 2023, at El Camino Real. (Photo by Michael Owen Baker, contributing photographer)
Granada Hills pitcher Addison Moorman motions after striking out an El Camino Real batter twice after the previous strike was ruled an illegal pitch, Friday, April 14, 2023, at El Camino Real. (Photo by Michael Owen Baker, contributing photographer)
Granada Hills base runner Francesca Luster dives back to first base after a fly out as El Camino Real’s Leilana Munoz waits for the throw, Friday, April 14, 2023, at El Camino Real. (Photo by Michael Owen Baker, contributing photographer)
Granada Hills outfielder Lainey Brown misses a fly ball that went for a solo home run by El Camino Real’s Anne Hoke, Friday, April 14, 2023, at El Camino Real. (Photo by Michael Owen Baker, contributing photographer)
El Camino Real’s Anne Hoke slides home after hitting a solo home run against Granada Hills, Friday, April 14, 2023, at El Camino Real. (Photo by Michael Owen Baker, contributing photographer)
El Camino Real’s Senia Gutierrez, center, is congratulated by Anne Hoke after hitting a two-run homer against Granada Hills, Friday, April 14, 2023, at El Camino Real. (Photo by Michael Owen Baker, contributing photographer)
Granada Hills’ Malia Plourde catches a pickoff attempt as El Camino Real baserunner Amber Rivas dives to first base, Friday, April 14, 2023, at El Camino Real. (Photo by Michael Owen Baker, contributing photographer)
Granada Hills outfielder Riley Furnance, left, celebrates with Malia Plourde catching on a deep fly ball against El Camino Real, Friday, April 14, 2023, at El Camino Real. (Photo by Michael Owen Baker, contributing photographer)
Granada Hills’ Jasmine Soriano (27) motions after hitting a triple against El Camino Real, Friday, April 14, 2023, at El Camino Real. (Photo by Michael Owen Baker, contributing photographer)
El Camino Real head coach Jodi Borenstein, right, and assistant coach Cara Blumfield during their game against Granada Hills, Friday, April 14, 2023, at El Camino Real. (Photo by Michael Owen Baker, contributing photographer)
Granada Hills head coach Ivan Garcia talks with pitcher Addison Moorman and catcher Samantha Esparza during their game against El Camino Real, Friday, April 14, 2023, at El Camino Real. (Photo by Michael Owen Baker, contributing photographer)
Granada Hills pitcher Addison Moorman reacts after getting out of a jam against El Camino Real, Friday, April 14, 2023, at El Camino Real. (Photo by Michael Owen Baker, contributing photographer)
El Camino Real shortstop Rachel Loth throw out a Granada Hills batter, Friday, April 14, 2023, at El Camino Real. (Photo by Michael Owen Baker, contributing photographer)
Granada Hills infielder Francesca Luster tries to tag out El Camino Real baserunner Anne Hoke during a pickoff attempt, Friday, April 14, 2023, at El Camino Real. (Photo by Michael Owen Baker, contributing photographer)
El Camino Real infielder Rachel Loth makes a leaping catch against Granada Hills, Friday, April 14, 2023, at El Camino Real. (Photo by Michael Owen Baker, contributing photographer)
The El Camino Real infield gathers around pitcher Sarah Delgado (30) during their game against Granada Hills, Friday, April 14, 2023, at El Camino Real. (Photo by Michael Owen Baker, contributing photographer)
Granada Hills outfielder Riley Furnance makes a running catch on a deep fly ball against El Camino Real, Friday, April 14, 2023, at El Camino Real. (Photo by Michael Owen Baker, contributing photographer)
Granada Hills’ Vivian Acosta high fives the third base coach after hitting a leadoff triple in the sixth inning against El Camino Real, Friday, April 14, 2023, at El Camino Real. (Photo by Michael Owen Baker, contributing photographer)
El Camino Real’s Amber Rivas slides into third base after advancing bases on a hit against Granada Hills, Friday, April 14, 2023, at El Camino Real. (Photo by Michael Owen Baker, contributing photographer)
“The core group that leads us is phenomenal,” coach Ivan Garcia said. “It’s really almost less (work) for us as coaches because they just hold each other accountable. They’re always on, like hey, this is not acceptable. This is not what we want to do. And that has really paid off.”
Sophomore pitcher Addison Moorman threw a complete game Friday and improved to 8-4 in the circle behind an offense that poured on the runs in the fourth inning.
The Highlanders (13-4 overall, 3-0 West Valley League) put up two runs in the first inning on a groundout by Samantha Esparza and an RBI single from Malia Plourde.
El Camino Real’s Anne Hoke hit a solo home run to bring the score to 2-1 heading into the second frame.
Jasmine Siriano hit a triple in the fourth inning for the Highlanders, then beat the throw home on Lainey Brown’s single. Jocelyn Jimenez and Vivian Acosta came up with RBI singles, then Plourde topped off the scoring in the inning with a two-run double to make it 7-1.
“We had a freshman, Zoe Justman, get a clutch hit up and … once it starts to snowball, we were able to get five or six runs going,” Garcia said. “And then we reverted it back to being aggressive and swinging at the first pitch and things like that.”
The Royals (7-7, 2-1), who have won the City Section Open Division title the last three seasons, returned one starter this season. Coach Jodi Borenstein embraces games like Friday’s to make her team better.
Granada Hills pitcher Addison Moorman reacts after getting out of a jam against El Camino Real, Friday, April 14, 2023, at El Camino Real. (Photo by Michael Owen Baker, contributing photographer)
“I’d rather a game like that than to beat a team by 20 runs,” she said. “We want to play good teams and that’s softball. That was softball out there today and we love it.”
Garcia has been coaching the varsity team for six years, and he says it’s taken every one of those years to build Granada Hills to what it is now. Before his varsity tenure, he was coaching the JV team.
The Highlanders won their last City Section title in 1981, but have made championship appearances as recently as 2021 and 2019. The success has attracted talent, and Garcia has designed competitive practices to keep that talent growing.
“Fun and competitive,” Luster said. “We play games. And sometimes we’ll be like, who scores the most runs and we get very competitive when it comes to that, but it makes us play 10 times harder and focus more when you know when we’re competing with each other.”
Granada Hills’ losses were Cypress, Millikan, Westlake and Moorpark, which are all either ranked or getting a mention in the latest CIF Southern Section polls. The schedule is another part of the effort to challenge the Highlanders more and continue building their reputation.
“A reputation that ‘Granada is the place,’ and we want to be known that way,” Garcia said.
