Daily Pilot Softball Dream Team: Grace Uribe gave Huntington Beach a puncher’s chance
Huntington Beach High softball coach Jeff Forsberg had probably never been so happy to be proven wrong.
Having already made history the season before in reaching their first CIF Southern Section Division 1 quarterfinal, the Oilers had their eyes set on making another deep playoff run.
Of the pieces coming back, Forsberg felt that starting catcher Katelyn Mangrello was the one player that his team could not afford to lose. He considered it essential that the bond between pitcher and catcher not be severed, especially when it came to budding ace Grace Uribe.
“I said she was the one player that we couldn’t lose because she and Grace connected,†Forsberg said.
A knee injury took Mangrello out from behind the plate almost as soon as the season began. The Oilers would also deal with injuries to first baseman Kelly Ryono, center fielder Jadelyn Allchin and left fielder Shelbi Ortiz, among others, but the Oilers stayed afloat largely due to the growth of Uribe.
Mangrello may have been relegated to the dugout, and later, plate appearances as the designated player, but she remained involved in the game plan when Reanna Rudd took over as the Oilers’ catcher.
“The cool thing was Reanna stepped up, but two years ago, Grace wouldn’t have let Reanna step up,†Forsberg said of Uribe’s maturity. “She would have fought it, complained about it. This year, she said, ‘Well, there is nothing that I can do about it. I’m going to connect with Reanna.’
“They connected, and then Katelyn being here connecting was kind of like a triangle of connection. It was like taking Katelyn’s head, putting it in Reanna’s head, and then Grace felt comfortable with that.â€
Uribe looked more than comfortable in the circle, and the junior earned the Daily Pilot Softball Dream Team Player of the Year honor.
She went 13-5 in 18 starts with a 1.99 earned-run average. She struck out 78 and walked 36. While the strikeout-to-walk ratio does not jump off the page, Uribe can live with it. She thrives on inducing weak contact, and she will take a big strike zone when she can get it.
“I think how I got better this year is I learned that I’m never going to throw any of my pitches for strikes,†Uribe, a Texas A&M commit, said. “I’m going to throw them how they’re meant to be thrown, and I’m going to hit my spots, because if I don’t hit my spots, they’re going to hit it.â€
The Surf League, which represented the top half of the new Sunset Conference, offered quite a challenge. Each team had effective starting pitching — Marina with Surf League Most Valuable Player Emily Rush, Los Alamitos with Surf League Most Valuable Pitcher Sarah Ladd, and Edison with Arkansas-bound power pitcher Jenna Bloom.
Confidence has never been an issue for Uribe, who relished the chance to show what she was made of.
“It’s competition, so you have to have it in you,†said Uribe, a repeat first-team Dream Team selection. “If you don’t have a want to win or you don’t have a passion for it, then you shouldn’t be out there.
“If someone is doing better than me, I’m not going to match them. I’m going to do better. That’s just how I think. Even if it’s not successful, I go out there thinking that I’m going to win. I’m going to do this, and if you beat me, you’re lucky.â€
When the Huntington Beach High softball team played in its first CIF Southern Section Division 1 quarterfinal last season, the Oilers gave eventual champion Norco everything it could handle.
All four Surf League teams finished within one game of each other. Huntington Beach (18-9, 4-5 in league) was fortunate to have qualified for the Division 1 playoffs, having needed an at-large berth after finishing in a tie for third place with Edison (16-10, 4-5). The Chargers had no such luck in Division 2.
Once in the dance, Huntington Beach outdid itself, advancing further than any previous Oilers team for the second year in a row. The Oilers earned wins against No. 4 seed Grand Terrace, Esperanza and Chino Hills, before bowing out against back-to-back CIF champion Norco in the semifinals.
In addition to her pitching prowess, Uribe added to her value with her bat this season. Past seasons had seen Uribe grapple with an identity crisis as a switch hitter, and even at times, resorting to slapping, in limited opportunities.
Hitting out of necessity, Uribe swung away this year, to the Oilers’ benefit. She hit .385, driving in a team-high 23 runs on the strength of five home runs, which ranked second on the team.
“This year, when everybody got hurt, she had to hit, and then she was one of our best hitters,†Forsberg said. “It makes us look back on those years that she didn’t hit, and we kind of ripped her off with some of those at-bats. I owe her some more at-bats.â€
So in the end, Forsberg conceded that Uribe was the one player the Oilers could ill-afford to lose this season.
“She was the most consistent,†Forsberg said. “She was consistent at the plate. She was consistent pitching. We look back at it now, and I think if we would have lost her, we would have never gotten to where we needed to be.â€
COACH OF THE YEAR
Tom Blanchfield
Newport Harbor
Newport Harbor put together a season that was simply unheard of in the history of the program. After becoming part of the Wave League, the Sailors went 8-1 in those games to win their first league title. Newport Harbor beat visiting Ocean View 3-2 in the opening round of the CIF Southern Section Division 5 playoffs. According to Sailors athletic director Jerry Murray, it marked the first time that Newport Harbor had hosted a postseason softball game, and it was also the program’s first playoff victory. The Sailors went 18-10 overall, led by a young corps that can help Newport Harbor enjoy an extended run of success. “If there is one thing that you take away from this year, it’s that it really was the girls,†Blanchfield said. “They got along well, and that made practices more fun.†Blanchfield also thanked coaches Melissa Taravella and Brian Marshall, as well as advisor Tony Qualin, for their contributions.
FIRST TEAM
Jenna Bloom
P | Edison | Sr.
Bloom served as the area’s premier strikeout artist the past few years, and she continued to fan hitters at an elite level. The Arkansas signee went 6-6 with a 2.00 earned-run average in her senior season. In 66 2/3 innings, she struck out 80 and walked 22. Bloom struck out a season-high 15 batters in a complete-game loss to Marina at home on March 19. The All-Surf League first-team selection also struck out 14 in pitching a shutout against Los Alamitos on April 2. Edison (16-10, 4-5) tied for third place in the league, but it did not receive an at-large berth into the CIF Southern Section Division 2 playoffs.
Reanna Rudd
C | Huntington Beach | Jr.
Huntington Beach did not have too many constants in its lineup due to a litany of injuries. The Oilers counted on the battery of Uribe in the circle and Rudd behind the plate. An All-Surf League second-team nominee, Rudd sported a batting average of .393 with 10 runs batted in. She led the Oilers with six home runs, and half of her hits went for extra bases.
Makena Tomlinson
1B | Corona del Mar | Fr.
Making the move from the Pacific Coast League to the Sunset Conference did not prove to be a seamless transition for CdM. Freshmen building blocks like Tomlinson and shortstop Sydney Walls give the Sea Kings hope that they can be competitive in the near future. Tomlinson hit .410 with 35 RBIs, 26 runs scored, eight doubles and seven home runs. The first-team All-Wave League selection also drew more walks (nine) than strikeouts (eight). The Sea Kings went 13-13 overall and 3-6 in the league, finishing third.
Taylor Lane
2B | Marina | So.
Senior first baseman Shayla Thomas and junior pitcher Emily Rush returned as the heart of the order for Marina, but the Vikings needed others to step up to lengthen their lineup. Lane did just that, hitting .378 with four doubles and four home runs. The second-team All-Surf League selection scored 15 runs and had 12 RBIs. Lane had a pair of four-hit performances in the Dave Kops Tournament of Champions in Arizona, helping the Vikings reach the semifinals of the tournament. Marina (16-9, 5-4) shared the Surf League title with Los Alamitos. The Vikings earned the No. 1 overall seed in the CIF Southern Section Division 2 playoffs, but they were upset by Temecula Valley.
Samara Ortega
3B | Fountain Valley | So.
Fountain Valley (11-17-1, 6-3) secured a playoff spot by finishing in second place in the Wave League. Ortega’s bat played a big role in the Barons making it to the CIF Southern Section Division 3 playoffs. For the season, she hit .395 with 25 RBIs and 21 runs scored. The All-Wave League second-team selection slugged five home runs to go with seven doubles and one triple. Ortega drove in multiple runs in five league contests, including a season-high five RBIs against Newport Harbor on March 27.
Katie Belmontes
SS/CF | Costa Mesa | Sr.
Belmontes made herself an invaluable asset for the Mustangs during her career, supplying a power bat while playing the key positions of shortstop and center field. The Cal State Northridge signee led Costa Mesa (12-12, 8-2) to a second-place finish in the Orange Coast League and a berth in the CIF Southern Section Division 6 playoffs. Belmontes sported a batting average of .567 with 30 runs scored and 29 RBIs. The first-team All-Orange Coast League pick had 12 doubles, eight home runs and two triples. In her final Battle for the Bell game against Estancia, Belmontes homered twice with nine RBIs in a 15-6 victory on April 5. Belmontes, a three-time Dream Team member, also earned her second consecutive All-CIF Southern Section selection.
Eliana Gottlieb
CF/1B | Newport Harbor | So.
Gottlieb has turned into the face of an emerging Newport Harbor team. The sophomore garnered Wave League MVP honors after leading the Sailors to their first league title as a program. Gottlieb supplied power from the left side of the plate, batting .569 with 28 runs scored and 25 RBIs. She had eight doubles, four home runs and one triple. Sailors coach Tom Blanchfield said Gottlieb leads by example, saying, “She invests in her skills and it shows. I think that rubs off on everybody when people are trying hard and they take pride in being good at their craft.â€
Jadelyn Allchin
CF | Huntington Beach | Sr.
Allchin missed time with a fractured orbital bone, but she remained the key to the Oilers’ offense atop the lineup. The four-year varsity starter and USA Softball 19U junior women’s national team selection earned her third Dream Team nomination. Of the Oilers to play in at least 10 games, Allchin led Huntington Beach with a .458 batting average, adding a .500 on-base percentage. The Washington signee scored 21 runs to go with 11 RBIs and eight stolen bases. She also had a five-hit game against Edison in a Surf League game on March 27.
Jaelyn Operana
OF | Edison | Sr.
In her first and only season with the Chargers, Operana hit .318 with 16 runs scored, 12 RBIs and three home runs. The senior hit a go-ahead home run in the top of the seventh inning to send Edison to a 7-4 win at Newport Harbor in a Sunset Conference crossover game. After a 1-3 start in Surf League play, the Tennessee commit helped the Chargers get back in the playoff picture. Operana had a home run in Edison’s 6-0 win over Los Alamitos on April 2. The All-Surf League second-team selection threw 5 2/3 scoreless innings to help the Chargers to a 2-0 win over the Griffins in the first game of a doubleheader on April 19.
Emily Rush
P/DP | Marina | Jr.
Rush earned her third Dream Team selection in as many seasons by continuing to excel in the circle and at the plate for the Vikings. A part-time third baseman when Marina had Amber Baldwin as its ace, Rush has become far more than an innings-eater. She has also brought a gold glove to her position, getting herself out of jams with her ability to turn comebackers into outs. The Surf League MVP went 16-8 with three shutouts, including a no-hitter against Edison on March 29. She struck out 89 over 150 innings with a 2.29 ERA. Rush also hit .421 with 33 RBIs, eight home runs and five doubles.
SECOND TEAM
Position, Name, School, Year
P CJ Garcia, Fountain Valley, So.
C Izabella Martinez, Edison, So.
1B Shayla Thomas, Marina, Sr.
2B Megan Ryono, Huntington Beach, Sr.
SS Lindsey Blanchfield, Newport Harbor, So.
SS Nicole Logrecco, Marina, Sr.
3B Haley Hoskin, Ocean View, So.
3B Haley Wolf, Costa Mesa, Sr.
LF Haylee Orozco, Marina, Fr.
CF Amerys Barshtak, Corona del Mar, Sr.
RF Devyn Greer, Huntington Beach, So.
DP Lena De La O, Estancia, So.
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