By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor

Talk about a reversal of fortune.

One year after finishing dead last in the Mission League, the Flintridge Sacred Heart softball program claimed the Sunshine League championship in 2019.

In 2018, FSHA won just one league contest and things didn’t look much better to start league play in 2019.

The Tologs dropped their Sunshine League opener at Marymount, 11-1, back on March 19.

But to their credit, FSHA got back up, dusted itself off, and won the next seven consecutive league games to wrap up the championship.

And over those seven straight victories, they did so by a margin of 65-16.

The Tologs have already scored 62 more runs than they did in 2018, and have done so in two less games.

Among a number of reasons for their success, the near 75-point rise in the team batting average has been key.

FSHA has eight girls in their lineup with north of 20 hits and a .400 average.

And while so many girls deserve and have earned their respect and credit for the turnaround, we are celebrating four seniors that have helped lead the worst-to-first scenario out in La Canada.

Aside from earning a Sunshine League championship, FSHA also earned a drama-filled, 9-8 victory last Thursday over Knight in 11 innings.

The Tologs head to Newport Harbor on Tuesday in the second round of the CIF-SS Division 5 playoffs.

The Sailors (18-9) earned a first-round, 3-2 victory over Ocean View.

But back to the stats and accomplishments of these senior leaders.

If you didn’t see it for yourself, you might think there was a typo when seeing the statistical dominance of Amanda Ramirez.

Ramirez is batting a ridiculous .644, with 38 hits, 35 runs scored, 15 doubles and 5 triples.

Ramirez leads the Tologs in average, hits, runs, doubles, triples, as well as her on-base percentage (.716) and slugging percentage (1.067).

Amesie Noll’s 39 RBIs is tops for FSHA.

Noll is also batting .444, with 32 hits, 23 runs scored and 17 RBIs.

She’s collected a pair of doubles and a triple.

Karrie Nishiyama, the daughter of head coach Kirk Nishiyama is having a fantastic season of her own.

Nishiyama is hitting .419 with 26 hits.

She’s scored 23 times, has driven in 17, doubled twice and has a triple.

Last but certainly not least is Julia Powers.

Powers has 23 hits, 19 runs and she’s collect 19 RBIs, while hitting at a .404 clip.

She’s doubled three times and has one triple.

While this was a senior celebration, we would be remiss if we didn’t mention the other key contributors to FSHA’s highly successful season.

Freshman Maddie Napierala (.440 average, 22 hits, 14 runs, 20 RBIs, 6 doubles), junior Sarah Peck (.448, 30 hits, 25 runs, 22 RBIs, 4 doubles), freshman Victoria Ramirez (.426, 29 hits, 15 runs, 22 RBIs, 8 doubles, 3 triples) and junior Cate Ziegler (.451, 23 hits, 32 runs, 19 RBIs, 4 doubles, 3 triples, one home run) have all been incredibly instrumental in the massive ascension as a program.

Victoria Ramirez has also been huge in the circle.

Ramirez is 13-4, with a 2.85 ERA.

Caitlin Cruz has contributed four wins in the circle as well.

Not only was escaping the league cellar after two consecutive years of occupancy there special, the Tologs didn’t just win a Sunshine League championship, they ran away offensively and statistically from the competition.

Second-place Louisville, who was just one-game back in the Sunshine League has scored 101 LESS runs than the Tologs, despite having played one game more than FSHA in 2019.

In our “quotable” section, we asked each of the four seniors to give us their thoughts on five topics.

What did they see as their role this season for the Tologs?

At what point did they start to believe a league championship was a possibility and why?

Why did FSHA have such a breakout season?

Who are they thankful for in their careers/lives?

And lastly, did they feel teams overlooked them and did that make winning a championship even more special?

Quotable:

FSHA coach Kirk Nishiyama: “This group of seniors has been together for four years on varsity. They have grown together as players and as people. The past three years they have been the core of our team. It has been great to see them through their leadership and great play take the team to another level. They have done a great job of helping to integrate a very young but talented freshmen class into our team this season. It has been very rewarding to see this group of seniors finish their careers at FSHA on such a positive note. They really deserve it. I have not been associated with a better group of seniors.”

FSHA senior Amanda Ramirez: “I think my role as shortstop was to be the leader of the infield and help guide the underclassmen. To be completely honest, I thought that (winning a league title) from the beginning of the season. We had a great preseason, so I knew we would definitely have a good chance at winning league. Even after losing the first game to Marymount, I knew that it was still possible. This year’s team really is special. I think we all get along really well together and every girl on the team wants to compete and win. I think all this has allowed us to be successful. I would like to thank my parents, and all the parents and fans who have come to support us. I’d also like to thank all three coaches for their constant hard work and the time put in everyday after school to help the team. Since we came in last in league the last two years, I think that many people have overlooked FSHA.”

FSHA senior Amesie Noll: “I think my main role this year is the captain of the outfield and teaching the younger girls on the team to be aggressive defensive players. I think after we lost to Marymount we got a surge of energy and determination that took us to the league title. We had a solid season because we had really strong pitching, defense, and hitting combined. We kept energy throughout each inning and we had confidence. I definitely want to thank Coach Nish and Schneids for always being so supportive and helping me gain my personal confidence in all aspects of the game. I do think others overlooked our team because we haven’t been league champs in so many years. It felt really good to win league my senior year because it was a great end to my whole life of softball.”

FSHA senior Karrie Nishiyama: “I think this year I’ve been or at least tried to be a leader, role model and voice on the field. After we beat Louisville the second time, the thought of winning league became real because they were definitely our biggest competitor in league. This year, we’ve been really strong defensively which has carried us through games because we always have our defense to rely on when we’re struggling at the plate. I’d like to thank the three other seniors because we’ve been together all four years, some even longer, and they’re definitely a huge part of the reason why I’m going to miss this team next year. I’d also like to thank my dad for coaching me throughout my whole softball career. I think we were overlooked because these last couple of years we didn’t do well in league so I don’t even think we were expecting a lot of ourselves.”

FSHA senior Julia Powers: “As a captain, I love being able to boost the energy of the team during a game. I also think that a key role being able to bond the whole team together, the upperclassmen and the lowerclassmen. It was our third league game of the season and we were playing Louisville. It was at this moment that our team realized that we could really battle for a win. We had fought through the entire game and I remember having two outs and the tying run was on third in the seventh. Even in this high stakes situation our team was able to pull through. This was when our team started to realize that we could win league.

Compared to other years, our hitting has been some of the best it has ever been. Everyone has worked so hard to maintain this and our league win has shown that all our work has paid off. Our coaches are definitely the first to thank for all of their support. Throughout our four years, they have shown and taught us respect, humility, and a love for the team and the sport. I also would want to thank my mom and dad because they have always loved coming to games and watching me play and I am so thankful for that. Other teams overlooked Sacred Heart, but I wouldn’t say it was special because we proved everyone wrong. It was special because we won for the first time in 31 years. It was special because we won for our coaches, our school, and our team, and we loved every minute of it.”

Sunshine League Standings:

FSHA (17-5, 7-1)

Louisville (12-9-2, 6-2)

Marymount (8-10, 3-5)

Immaculate Heart (8-10-1, 2-6)

Notre Dame Academy (4-9, 2-6)