GARDEN GROVE – It was early November when the six seniors on Pacifica’s softball team found themselves as the center of attention in the school’s crowded quad area amongst hundreds of classmates, teachers, friends and family members.
Sitting at a table decked out in congratulatory signs, the Mariners players each signed their National Letter of Intent, effectively extending their athletic careers to the college ranks before even stepping onto the field for the start of the 2014 season.
Seven months and 33 games later, a picture from that day now serves as a reminder that the future is actually much closer than the Pacifica senior class might realize.
When the Mariners take the field tonight in the CIF-SS Division 1 championship game at Bill Barber Park in Irvine, it’ll mark the final time Kaylee Carlson, Nicole DeWitt and Brooke Marquez suit up for Pacifica. In addition to that talented trio, Sarah Jackson, Rochelle Draper and Selina Tajalle will also be appearing in their final game for Coach Mark Campbell, ending one of the most successful four-year stretches in program history.
“It definitely makes the game more emotional because we don’t want our last game together to be a loss,” Carlson explained. “But we want our last moment to be our best. All of us are going to play our hearts out so that our last game together we win the CIF championship.”
Over the last four seasons, Pacifica has accumulated a 107-16-1 record, winning four straight Empire League titles in impressive 45-3 fashion.
While the league championship banner in center field at Pacifica’s softball diamond gets updated practically every year, the CIF-SS banner to the left of it has been untouched since 2007.
For this senior class in particular, a CIF title appearance was the only glaring hole from an otherwise impeccable resume. Simply getting to the final, as they’d tell you, has been an arduous journey.
“There’s definitely been a lot of ups and downs with the teams,” DeWitt said. “We’ve had those big wins together, but we’ve gone through some tough losses too.”
The last two seasons have ended in particularly devastating fashion, as the Mariners lost by one run in the 2012 quarterfinals to Santiago of Corona, and then suffered another one-run loss to Norco in last year’s semifinals.
This season, the Mariners got to play their semifinal at home, in front of a jam-packed crowd, and beat Canyon, 2-0.
“We’re still really pumped off that win,” Marquez said. “We’re kind of bringing that feeling back into the final.
“We’ve been telling each other, ‘If we win this one, imagine that feeling and so much more.’”
While technically in unknown territory, the Mariners roster is overflowing with big-game experience from high-profile tournaments and travel-ball circuits.
“When you have kids who have been in the program for four years — playing the competition that we’ve played — and to have them in a game like this, it’s a huge advantage for us,” Campbell said.
For the veterans, tonight is the culmination of their four-year high school careers. And while they’re technically seven innings away from their futures, there’s no doubting the seniors are locked in on leaving a championship legacy.
“It’d be really special,” DeWitt said of going out on a high note. “We’ve all grown together as sisters. We’re more than teammates. We’re all best friends with each other, and going out with a ‘W’ would just be something to top onto our team’s accomplishments.”
Contact the writer: kconnolly@ocregister.com
