By Vincent PAGE

On Saturday, history was made for Crescenta Valley High School. Its varsity softball team won the Division 3 CIF championship against West Ranch, 3-0. And for so many reasons, with so many storylines, this team was one of the best in CVHS history.

First, there is the sheer magnitude of winning a title and the team it took to do so. All season, the Falcons had only 11 players on their roster, something that head coach Amanda Peek was proud of.

“Resilience,” was the one word Peek repeatedly used to describe her team. With such a small group (only four seniors), every player had to bring her best every time the team squared off. In softball, including the use of a flex player, that means the Falcons had only one substitute for the season.

“Eleven strong,” Peek said. “That’s what we say.”

On Saturday, no player made more of an impact than DeeDee Hernandez, the sophomore phenom. She was already named the All Pacific League Player of the Year, and on Saturday, on the biggest stage of her softball career, she more than delivered.

In fact, she pitched the best game of her career.

Hernandez struck out 11 West Ranch batters, and flirted with perfection deep into the game, but a walk in the fifth inning ended those hopes. Nevertheless, not a single West Ranch batter was able to put a “1” in the hit column Saturday night, meaning Hernandez accomplished every pitcher’s dream in throwing a no-hitter. After the game, the moment still hadn’t completely caught up to her.

“Winning something like this is just like a dream,” Hernandez said. “It’s just such an amazing feeling. It feels like it didn’t really happen and I’m really not in the moment of it yet.”

For the Falcons’ offense, Hernandez was once again crucial. In the first inning, she crushed a ball to left field to drive in Morgan Eng, who had reached on an error. This gave the Falcons an early 1-0 lead, which Eng noted as a huge moment for the team.

“Getting that lead was a definite confidence booster,” Eng said. “It really made it seem real, like this is really happening and we are really doing this. To score those runs was a real feel-good moment for me.”

A few innings later, freshman Izzy Jamgotchian drove in two more runs, giving the Falcons a 3-0 lead, which they held on to until the final out.

For Peek, this cemented her legacy at CVHS. After winning All-Area Player of the Year in 2004 and continuing her softball career at Cal State University Northridge, she eventually returned to coach her alma mater.

Ever since, the softball team has been an elite program. This was the third straight Pacific League title for the Falcons, and they finally capped it with a CIF title under Peek. She was already a member of the CVHS Hall of Fame, but she is now undoubtedly one of the most prominent individuals in the history of CVHS athletics.

July 17.

That date may seem insignificant to the average person. But for this group of 11 players and their coaches, it was the first day of summer practice and the start of a championship season for Peek and her players.

On that day, she wrote a date on the team’s white board: May 18. The date of the Division 3 CIF championship. This was the team’s goal from the very beginning, and, along the way, they knew it was a possibility.

Now, 11 players, 33 games and, 305 days later, it’s reality.

  Vincent PAGE