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Pacifica softball beats Canyon with a solid all-around effort

March 20, 2026

Pacifica first baseman Mikella Carey makes contact against Canyon in a Crestview League softball game in Garden Grove on Thursday, March 19, 2026. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)

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Pacifica first baseman Mikella Carey makes contact against Canyon in a Crestview League softball game in Garden Grove on Thursday, March 19, 2026. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)

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GARDEN GROVE — The Pacifica softball team executed its brand of small ball to perfection in a 4-1 victory over Canyon in a Crestview League game Thursday at Pacifica High School.

Quality pitching and a bit of power also factored into the victory for the Mariners (10-5, 1-0), who were playing their league opener.

“We’re going to have to do the little things like steal bases and drop bunts down and we did that today,” Pacifica coach Tony Arduino said. “And we threw enough strikes … and we played catch on defense, and we’ve done that for the most part through 15 games.”

Mattea Stern singled to lead off the first inning for the Mariners, who are ranked No. 3 in Orange County.

Stern stole second, reached third on a bunt by Jenna Valladares and scored on groundout by Leyla Ayres to give the Mariners a 1-0 lead.

Natalia Amezquita and her sister Abigail Amezquita led off the third for the Mariners with a walk and a single, respectively.

Stern bunted the runners to second and third and Natalia Amezquita scored on a fly out from Valladares to make the score 2-0.

Ava Digiambattista scored from third on a wild pitch to get Canyon on the board, 2-1.

The 10th-ranked Comanches (8-4, 0-2) then had runners on second and third with one out and could have made it a big inning. But Pacifica starter Shay Kletke retired the next two hitters on fly ball outs to limit the damage.

Pacifica added a third run when Valladares tripled to lead off the sixth and scored when the next batter, Ayres, hit a single to right field.

Kletke homered to left two outs later for the Mariners’ fourth run.

“I was just making sure my mind was clear in the box,” Kletke said. “Then I was just looking for my pitch and I just tried to drive it hard.”

In addition to driving in two runs, Ayres, who plays catcher, picked a runner off of second base in the fifth to help kill a potential rally.

Canyon had runners on first and second with no outs when Ayres threw down to second for the out.

“Our coaches put the play on,” Ayres said. “They saw that she was taking a big lead and we noticed they were going to try to bunt her over. In that situation, they take a bigger lead and we just took advantage of that.”

Kenzie Bledl came in to relieve Kletke in the circle with one out in the fifth and retired two hitters in the fifth, allowed a bunt single in the sixth and retired Canyon in order in the seventh.

Pacifica softball beats Canyon with a solid all-around effort Orange County Register

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Pacifica softball beats Canyon with a solid all-around effort

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