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LINCOLN.....3 GARFIELD....2

3A L.A CITY FINALS @ UCLA




TIGERS ROAR

By Mario Villegas

Exclusive to Eastern Group Publications



Mark Shapiro has seen a lot of things during his 37 years as a teacher at Lincoln High School, but he’d never seen the Tigers win a City Section championship in any sport.

He set his designs on changing that when he offered to become coach of the softball team 10 years ago. His goal was to turn the woeful Tigers around and eventually to UCLA, where the City Section championships annually are played.

They reached their destination last week, advancing to the City finals, but didn’t stop there, as Lincoln defeated Garfield, 3-2, in the Invitational final May 30.

The City championship is the first won by any Lincoln girls’ team since the City Section began sanctioning girls’ athletics in 1974.

To Shapiro, the championship is the culmination of a long, but memorable, journey. He described Lincoln as the laughingstock of the City when he took over the program. There was barely enough players to field a team on game days and players dressed in uniforms that didn’t match. But it didn’t take long for the team to go from a losing one to a winning one. In fact, Lincoln reached the semifinals six times before advancing to last week’s finals.

“The girls put up with a lot from me,” Shapiro said. “We play year-round, and it pays off. We played 98 games as a team this year. The girls put their heart and soul in it and I don’t have any problems at all.”

Lincoln arrived in Westwood last week to face a familiar opponent in Garfield, a team the Tigers defeated 17-3 early in the season. Their second meeting figured to be a much tougher game, and it was.

Garfield pitcher Karina Garcia limited the Tigers to just four hits and one earned run. But the Bulldogs didn’t play as well defensively as Lincoln — committing three errors to the Tigers’ one.

Lincoln, which finished 27-9, scored in the first, third and fifth innings. Senior catcher Jessica Hernandez made Garfield pay for its first error by driving in Barbara Torres with a single in the first. Torres reached base on an error.

A groundball out by Amber Cabada brought in a run in the third. In the fifth, the Tigers scored on an error, two sacrifice bunts and a passed ball.

“My goal was to play small ball and get one run at a time, and we were able to do it,” Shapiro said. Pitch and play defense, and hold them. I’ll take the results any time.”

Pitcher Belen Benitez (14-5) shut out Garfield through four innings and got the victory, but she didn’t finish the fifth giving way to Cabada who moved from first base to relieve her. Garfield scored on a single by Cresi Juarez, a walk to Jennifer Blanco and an error on Brianna Barba’s ground ball.

Lincoln was three outs away from victory and the title, but Garfield rallied. A single by Blanco scored Nancy Garcia to get the Bulldogs to within 3-2. But with runners at second and third, Cabada got Cecily Sanchez to pop out to second to end the game. Cabada, who turned in 2 1/3 innings of relief, got the save, her third of the year.

“What’s more wonderful than walking off this field a winner?” Shapiro said. “I love the feeling, but the winning is for the girls.”

Hernandez was his choice for player of the game.

“Jessica called a great game behind the plate and had a base hit,” Shapiro said, recalling that he had cut her from the team when she tried out as a ninth grader. “She continued to work hard and got better and came back and made the team the next season. She’s a girl that got the most out of her talent than anyone. She gives 110 percent every practice, every game.”

Hernandez couldn’t have asked for a better way to finish her prep career.

“This is the way it should end for a high school softball player,” she said. “Winning a championship is like a dream coming true.”

With the loss, Garfield finished the season 20-9. Coach Guillermo Gonzalez pointed to the errors as the difference. But he said that he was proud of his players for getting as far as they did and looked forward to next season.

“We learned a lot from this experience,” he said. “We could end up playing here again next year.”