Santa Rosa Academy softball team storms into playoffs

Sophomore Audrey Pulver connects during a recent game for Santa Rosa Academy. (Photo by Rick Rowell)

By Doug Spoon, Editor

The Santa Rosa Academy softball team is on a roll heading into its CIF Southern Section playoff opener this week.

The Rangers recently finished league play with a 12-0 record and are 14-2-1 as they prepare to host Thursday’s 3:15 Division 5 first-round game. They will play the winner of Tuesday’s wild card game between Kaiser and Linfield Christian on the Mt. San Jacinto College softball field.

Santa Rosa’s powerful offense is led by Faith Krueger, who is hitting .659 with 4 home runs, 28 RBIs, and a 1.365 slugging percentage. Lisa Cante is hitting .654 with 2 home runs, 17 RBIs and a 1.136 slugging percentage. Kadence Bernard has two home runs, 11 RBIs and a 1.114 slugging percentage. Jordan Krueger is batting .595.

Faith Krueger and Cante are the leading hitters in the division. Then there’s the team’s effective pitching to talk about.

Jordan Krueger has a 1.875 ERA with 74 strikeouts and Bernard has a 2.256 ERA with 48 strikeouts. Behind them is a defense led by Faith Krueger, who has 16 assists and a .965 fielding percentage.

The Rangers are coming off a typically dominating performance in a 10-3 victory over San Jacinto Valley Academy in their last regular-season game. Jordan Krueger doubled home two runs in the first inning and allowed only four hits while striking out 12 on the mound. Freshman Ella Rael homered over the outfield fence in the fifth inning and freshman Ari Castle had three hits.

Two other area softball teams qualified for the playoffs. Liberty will be at home Thursday against a wild-card winner in Division 5, and Paloma Valley will play at Chino in a Division 4 opener.

Liberty finished Mountain Pass League play with a perfect 10-0 record and is 17-3-1 overall. Attiana Thompson is hitting .577 with 22 RBIs. Kaylee Fraund is batting .560 with 12 RBIs. Pitcher Janessa Guigliano is 7-2 with a 1.53 ERA and Brianna Longaker is 3-0 with a 2.94 ERA.

Camrynn Gorden Charlee Sinderud leads Paloma Valley batters with a .514 average and Charless Sinderud has a .500 average. Adrianna Ron has a .418 average ad 13 RBIs.