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El Modena softball rallies from five-run deficit to stun Cypress in league

April 10, 2026

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El Modena pitcher Giuliana Vega, right, shows her relief after second baseman Hallie Calderon, center, tagged out a runner at second for the first out in the top of the seventh inning in a Crestview League softball game in Orange on Thursday, April 9, 2026. Shortstop Brooklyn Calderon is at left. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)

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ORANGE — El Modena sophomore Giuliana Vega describes her ability to focus amid adversity in the pitching circle as a growing skill.

“I’ve been trying to work on it,” she said. “I’ve always been told that I’m not good enough because I’m short. So I kind of let that go as I grew up and I started working.”

Vega showed major progress Thursday to help her team rally for a win in the Crestview League.

She recovered from a five-run outburst by first-place Cypress to toss five no-hit innings to lead the Vanguards to 6-5 victory at El Modena High.

Cypress (13-7, 4-2) scored four runs on four hits in first inning. The Centurions added a run in the second on a solo home run by Tia Hernandez, her eighth, to open a 5-0 lead.

But after that, the 5-foot-5 Vega fired five scoreless innings for a depleted pitching staff. San Diego-bound senior Ashley Driskill (injured) and another pitcher were unavailable for El Modena (11-10, 3-2), Vanguards coach Bobby Calderon said.

“Absolutely gutsy performance today to keep us in the ballgame,” Calderon said of Vega, who teamed with catcher Parker Mayes on a five-hitter with five strikeouts and one walk.

“(Vega) never wavered. We just had the mindset that we were going to try to execute pitches and that’s what she went out and did.”

Vega received a boost from her defense in the seventh. After snagging a comebacker by leadoff hitter Cameron Gill, Vega threw low to first base. But right fielder Ava Savala backed up the play and tossed to Hallie Calderon at second base for the out.

Vega retired the next two batters, including Hernandez on a strikeout for the final out.

She credited her teammates and El Modena’s visualization exercises for her success.

“We do mental prep and I think it’s helped me a lot,” she said. “On practice days, we all lay on the (grass) and stay there for two minutes trying to visualize how we’re going to practice and how to throw the ball. (Pregame), we all sit in a circle for two minutes and visualize.”

Vega delivered two days after allowing a walk-off home run to Alyssa Hernandez of La Habra (16-5, 4-3) in an 8-6 loss in eight innings.

“This game is so much more mental than physical,” Calderon said.

El Modena batted around in the third to score four runs.

The bottom of the order sparked the surge as No. 8 hitter Lucy Mitchell doubled with one out for the first hit off Chach Stamper. Jillian Alvarado followed with an infield single, which set the stage for a RBI double by Hallie Calderon.

Kansas commit Jocelyn Alatorre capped the inning with a two-run double.

In the sixth, El Modena loaded with the bases with two outs and scored twice when Cypress misplayed a fly by Alvarado into shallow left field.

“Chach pitched well enough to win,” Cypress coach Terry Thompson said of the junior who allowed three earned runs and struck out six. “We could have taken a stranglehold in this conference going up 5-1.”

“But you move on,” he added. “If we play clean softball, out hitters are going to prevail.”

El Modena softball rallies from five-run deficit to stun Cypress in league Orange County Register

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El Modena softball rallies from five-run deficit to stun Cypress in league

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