By Stephanie Boshae
Head Coach Chavez Eagles Softball Team
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On Saturday, May 20, the Chavez softball team beat San Fernando High’s team 7-6 at Cal State Dominguez Hills making our team the 2023 D1 LA City Championship for the second time.
We are a team, we win together, we lose together, no matter what or who, we have each other’s backs.
Ultimately, we are a team who knows how to celebrate one another when someone does well and we are a team that prides itself on picking each other up when someone didn’t have the outcome they wanted.
At the same time, we hold each other accountable at practices to make sure we are working our hardest to be as ready as we can for our games. Our first goal was to obtain the East Valley League Championship Title and we accomplished that.
Once that goal was met, we knew the job wasn’t finished. Our next goal was to achieve the D1 City Title. Our action plan was to take it one game at a time, one inning at a time, one at-bat at a time, and one pitch at a time. We focused on maintaining the girls’ confidence levels, especially during high stake situations like playoffs. We worked on visualization strategies in the weeks leading up to playoffs to prepare the girls mentally for the highs and the lows.
Once we got to our championship game, all the girls seemed ready mentally and now it was a matter of just executing the physical part of the game. Throughout the game, we maintained our composure even when the innings went back and forth between us and our opponent. It came down to the bottom of the 7th inning with runners on, us down by 1 with 2 outs.
Our sophomore Jessica Ramos came up big for us with a double to right center scoring in the walk-off run. Making us the 2023 D1 LA City Champions (BACK TO BACK). We also won last year in 2022. I attribute that to our girls and coaches who are willing to do what it takes to put in the work. I truly believe that my coaching staff is amongst the best in the city not only for the amount of knowledge we all have but more importantly the amount of passion we have for the girls and this game of softball.
We are a school that has only been open for about 10 years and our softball program has grown and developed all throughout. Being back-to-back D1 champions is not an easy task. Once you win once, you then have a huge target on your back for any opponent you come across. But that is part of what makes this game fun, it’s the challenge to get better and stay on top. All the while, working hard and staying humble.