El Modena ends Notre Dame softball’s playoff run with rally in 7th inning

ENCINO — Charley Tapia had a bruised hand after getting hit with a line drive just three days earlier, but she was not going to miss Notre Dame’s CIF Southern Section quarterfinal game against El Modena on Wednesday.

It was the furthest the Knights had made it in the playoffs in her varsity career — and it was in Division 1, at that.

“I wanted to be in the moment with them, and I felt like I couldn’t do that if I was just sitting on the bench hurt,” she said. “I’m gonna do everything in my power that I can to play because I was not missing this moment.”

Tapia finished the day 2 for 4 with a solo home run, a triple and a walk as part of an impressive day of hitting by the team as a whole, but the Knights ultimately fell to El Modena 6-4.

“We’ve never made it to the third round, and this year we did,” Knights senior Nadia Ledon said. “And we never stopped fighting. It was that grit that we really found this year.”

Notre Dame (25-6)  was leading 4-2 heading into the final inning, but the Vanguards scored four runs in the top of the frame. Sophomore pitcher Alisha Covarrubias came in to relieve an exhausted Aliyah Garcia, who had matched up well with El Modena’s hitters all game, but the Knights were unable to get out of the jam.

El Modena (21-8) will be at Temescal Canyon for the semifinals Saturday.

The Vanguards hit two home runs in the first inning and the Notre Dame defense responded by holding them scoreless for the next five stanzas. Meanwhile, the offense went to work.

Tapia went yard in the second inning and the Knights added three more runs in the fourth to pull ahead, 4-2.

“All year long, that’s been the strength of this team — the depth of our lineup,” Notre Dame head coach Justin Siegel said.

Tapia tripled to start the rally, then University of San Diego commit Adiah Fountain worked a full count and got on base with a walk. Pinch runner Haley Maldonado scored on a passed ball during Fountain’s at-bat.

“She’s an aggressive baserunner and she has really, really plus speed,” Siegel said. “If she reads downward angle, and she sees her hip, she’s going to score on that, no question about it.”

Ledon, a University of New Mexico commit, singled and freshman Jackie Morales smoked a two-run double that gave Notre Dame an advantage it held on to until the final inning.

The Knights were the undefeated Mission League champions this season and did it with six freshmen on the roster. Three of them were included in the batting order Wednesday.

“I’m here to tell you that it’s going to be hard to beat us for the next several years,” Siegel said. “We’ve got to come to work, but if the next year’s team works the way that this year’s team did, it’s gonna be tough to beat them. They believe in themselves.”

Other softball scores from Wednesday

Division 3: Westlake 4, Mission Viejo 0

Division 4: Harvard-Westlake 12, Dos Pueblos 9

Division 5: West Ranch 7, La Cañada 4