WHITTIER, Calif. (May 5, 2024) – The Whittier College softball team concluded a special day at Palmer Field by sweeping the University of La Verne in the final two games of the 2024 regular season on Saturday afternoon. The Poets celebrated Senior prior to the game with a brief ceremony highlighting the careers and accomplishments of their five senior players: 2024 Whittier College Presidential Scholar-Athlete
Emily Adkison (Laguna Niguel, Calif. / Mater Dei),
Sara Chiala (Los Gatos, Calif. / Los Gatos),
Marissa Flynn (Covina, Calif. / South Hills),
Lindsay Perry (Corona, Calif. / Santiago), and
Heaven Wolf (Montebello, Calif. / Schurr | Rio Hondo College). The mothers of the five seniors got to throw out the ceremonial first pitch, and freshman catcher
Brooklyn Umali (San Diego, Calif. / Mt. Carmel | Palomar) even sang the national anthem.
Little did anyone realize, however, that the performance of Whittier's senior quintet would play a vital role in the outcome of the season's final pair of games. Suffice it to say, the upperclassmen delivered, combining to hit .464 on 13-for-28 hitting, to go with eight RBIs, seven runs scored, three walks, and the cherry on top -- three home runs; the first of which will go down as a highlight for the entire athletic season as a whole.
Game 1: Whittier 5, La Verne 1
Coming off a narrow defeat in the first game of the series at La Verne on Friday, the Poets made it a point to get off to a fast start with the bats. The Purple & Gold managed to get back to the top of the order before the end of the second inning, thanks to consistent contact from up and down the lineup, but especially from the seniors. Three of them led off the second inning, with Perry getting on base with a single up the middle and Flynn doubling down the left field line, then advancing to third on a throwing error out in left field. This brought Chiala to the plate, who battled a knee injury for most of the season that limited her plate appearances and chances to showcase her glove in right field. However, after recently conditioning herself to help the team with limited at-bats, Chiala delivered a massive blow to the Leopards when she took the opposing pitcher into dead center field with a moon shot that felt like it got stuck in the sky.
Coming into Saturday's game, one-third of Chiala's base hits with the Poets had gone for extra bases, and it just so happened she saved her biggest hit for the final homestand of her career. Her emotional home run put the Poets up 3-0 heading into the third inning, providing starting pitcher
Kiley Kraft (Alhambra, Calif. / Ramona Convent Secondary School | Pasadena City College) with plenty of run support to carefully pick her spots and roll to an eventual complete game win.
Whittier provided Kraft with more run support in the ensuing inning, however. Junior outfielder
Sara Luna (Downey, Calif. / Downey), while not one of Saturday's five senior standouts, put on a show around the basepaths, particularly in the first game of the doubleheader in which she claimed four stolen bases. Two of Luna's thefts came in this inning's scoring sequence, however, and upon stealing third wound up scoring on a throwing error from the opposing catcher. From there, the seniors went back to doing their thing: Perry doubled, Flynn singled to score her classmate, and Chiala walked.
From that inning on, the Whittier defense held to form, with Luna, along with sophomore left fielder
Lucy Brooks (San Jose, Calif. / Valley Christian) standing out with big, athletic plays in the outfield.
Game 2: Whittier 6, La Verne 2
The Poets went on to win a similarly paced game in which Adkison toed the rubber as the game's opener before giving way to junior pitcher
Olivia Nunez (Placentia, Calif. / Valencia | Fullerton College). Though La Verne opened the game with a brief scoring barrage of its own, the two runs would be the Leopards' only offense of the game, as Whittier went on to score six unanswered in a game that would ultimately decide sixth and seventh place in the SCIAC standings. Nunez' work on the mound would be a big reason for this, as the junior pitched a beautiful game and allowed just four hits over six innings of work.
Nevertheless, Whittier's bats continued to do their thing, with Flynn headlining with a 3-for-3 performance to make it a scorching 5-for-6 between the two games. Half of those hits went for extra bases, including a home run in the fifth inning that came back-to-back alongside a home run from Perry. The back-to-back jacks gave the Poets' seniors three home runs for the day, and helped quash any hope the Leopards had of regaining the lead.
The Poets' big inning came in the third, in which Flynn knocked in Luna along with junior catcher
Maya Palos. Brooks also picked up an RBI during this inning when she was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. The RBI was her second second of the day, after she doubled in the prior inning to put the home team on the board. From there, the Poets defense made up for any errors committed on the day with big plays that lent Nunez the helping hand she needed to cruise through the Leopards' lineup. With a four-run lead to their name in the seventh inning, the Poets pulled their seniors from the game, one by one, with each played getting her own special sendoff before an unassisted ground out to first baseman
Olivia Butler (San Jose, Calif. / Pioneer) ended the game -- and season -- for good.
After the game,
Mary Pacheco '11 and assistant coach
Mike McBride were unveiled as softball affiliates to go in this year's Whittier College Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2024.
While the Poets came up short of making good on another SCIAC Postseason Tournament appearance, they fought through adversity on numerous occasions this year and rallied to an 18-18 overall record and a 9-12 SCIAC record that resulted in a sixth-place finish. However, a meager two games separated the fourth, fifth, and sixth-placed teams this year, further evidence of just how competitive SCIAC softball is at the Division III level. Though their five departing seniors will be difficult to place, Head Coach
Trisha Senyo and the Poets will have a chance to be every bit as good, if not better next year as they look to stay resilient and make it back to postseason softball.
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