CHAMPS! Nipomo pummels Arvin to win CIF championship

May 28—The Titans are CIF champions.

Nipomo's softball team pummeled Arvin Saturday afternoon in Fresno, securing the CIF Central Section Division 6 championship with a 16-3 win at Fresno State's Margie Wright Diamond.

Nipomo's Key-annah Pu'a, a senior right-hander, struck out 13 Arvin batters in another complete game win, allowing just four hits and two earned runs.

Nipomo put the ball in play with 11 hits and Arvin committed nine errors on the day.

Nipomo's Mikayla McKee had two runs and two RBIs Saturday. Pu'a went 1-for-3 with a run and an RBI as the Titans won without an extra-base hit.

The Titans got a lot of their production from the bottom of their lineup. Anissa Garcia, the No. 5 hitter, walked twice and scored twice.

Sophomore first baseman CJ Aria scored twice and No. 7 hitter Tania Conde went 2-for-2 with three RBIs and two runs.

Vivianne Goss, from the No. 8 spot, went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and three runs. Ella Chew, the No. 9 hitter, had three hits, three runs and an RBI for Nipomo.

The Titans won the division as the No. 6 seed in the 16-team bracket. Arvin rolled to the divisional final as the No. 4 seed. Arvin beat No. 9 Lindsay 8-7 in the semifinals and routed Summit Charter 19-1 in the quarterfinals after beating Mojave 17-0 in the first round.

Nipomo's biggest test in the bracket was against No. 10 Orcutt Academy. The Titans beat the Spartans 5-0 in the semifinals on Wednesday. They routed No. 3 Parlier 10-1 on the road in the quarterfinals and beat No. 11 Firebaugh 15-2 in the first round.

The Division 6 bracket was an unbalanced one, with No. 1 seed Lone Pine routed by No. 16 Farmersville 17-8 in the first round and No. 2 seed Visalia Central Valley Christian losing 6-5 to No. 15 seed Corcoran in the first round.

Pu'a struck out 55 batters in four playoff games, including her 20-strikeout performance against Parlier in the quarterfinals.

Nipomo is now 11-11-1 on the season. They went 7-10-1 in Ocean League play to finish in fourth place, though Nipomo played the first half of the season without Pu'a.

The University of Hawaii signee was out with a torn ACL, returning at the midway point of the season and giving Nipomo a huge boost. Pu'a is now 8-3 on the season with a 1.23 ERA.

Pu'a has struck out 101 batters in 57 innings. She's also hitting over .340 in 16 games played this year. The Titans continued their season in the CIF State Regionals Tuesday. Nipomo is the No. 5 seed in the CIF State SoCal Division 5 Regional.

If Nipomo won, it'll play the winner of the No. 1 Capistrano Valley Christian-No. 8 Camino Nuevo Dalzell winner in the regional semifinals.

Baseball: Righetti in SoCal Regional

After falling to Bakersfield Stockdale in the CIF Central Section Division 1 title game on Friday, the Warriors were set to play in the CIF State SoCal Division 2 Regional Tuesday.

Birmingham was the runner-up in the CIF Los Angeles City Section Open Division, falling to Chatsworth in the final at Dodger Stadium on Saturday. The Patriots are 21-10 on the season. If Righetti wins, it'll face the winner of the No. 1 Rancho Cucamonga Etiwanda-No. 8 Pasadena Maranatha game in the regional semifinals on June 2.