{"id":851,"date":"2026-05-30T21:07:39","date_gmt":"2026-05-30T21:07:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=851"},"modified":"2026-05-30T21:07:39","modified_gmt":"2026-05-30T21:07:39","slug":"santa-claras-bats-bash-as-bruins-capture-first-ccs-softball-title-a-dream-come-true","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=851","title":{"rendered":"Santa Clara’s bats bash as Bruins capture first CCS softball title: ‘A dream come true’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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SARATOGA \u2013 With the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh inning, shortstop Cita Chavez eyed the softball as she angled over to its final landing spot on West Valley College\u2019s pristine field.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cI have to catch this ball no matter what,\u201d the Santa Clara senior thought to herself. \u201cIt\u2019s the last out, and we\u2019re going to win the championship in goodness knows how long. The pressure is on me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

With razor-sharp focus, Chavez got the ball to drop into her glove to record the final out of Santa Clara\u2019s 14-8 victory over Silver Creek in the Central Coast Section Division V title game.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Teammates and coaches mobbed her moments later.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s absolutely a dream come true,\u201d Julie Kawamoto told the Bay Area News Group after the program won its first softball title in any division.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Bruins, playing in the program\u2019s first section final since they lost the inaugural CCS championship to now-defunct Camden in 1976, wasted no time getting their bats going. <\/span><\/p>\n

Victoria Calvillo led the game off with a triple, and then came home after an error in the field. After her teammates loaded the bases, Kyla Perkins made it 2-0 with a single to left, and Marley Hernandez doubled the lead with a single to left.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Genevieve Valdez made it 5-0 in the first with a walk, calming any anxiety the Bruins might have had in the dugout.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cThere were a bunch of nerves at the beginning, so getting a lead at the start, it really helped us, and brought us into the game,\u201d senior captain Chloe Boyes said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Silver Creek, led by Ariana Ibarra\u2019s three RBIs and CC Arreola\u2019s three hits, kept the pressure on the Bruins. But the deficit at the beginning was too much to overcome.<\/span><\/p>\n

After gong up 5-0 in the first, Santa Clara tacked on another run in the second and four more in the third, while Silver Creek produced four runs to make it 10-4 after three innings. Each team scored four more runs to close the game.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Bruins had 12 hits and two errors, while Silver Creek produced 10 hits and four errors.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Santa Clara\u2019s Calvillo was 3 of 4 at the plate, while Jazzy Ramirez had two RBIs and Hernandez also drove in three runs. Sophomore Rylan Morales pitched 5 \u2154 innings and also had an RBI.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Each team beat tough competition to reach the CCS final.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Silver Creek (19-9) finished fourth in the Blossom Valley Athletic League\u2019s Santa Teresa Division, but finished the regular season on a three-game winning streak and earned the top seed in Division V.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Raiders beat San Lorenzo Valley 5-4 in the first round before taking down Gunn 6-3 in the semifinal.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so proud of them,\u201d Silver Creek coach Nick Whiting said. \u201cThis team has battled day in and day out since January.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Santa Clara went 14-2 in league play and was one of the top teams in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League El Camino Division, just narrowly losing out on a league title to Palo Alto (15-1).<\/span><\/p>\n

After routing Fremont-Sunnyvale 12-2, the Bruins defeated North Monterey County in a 17-16 extra-inning thriller for the ages that saw Santa Clara rally from a nine-run deficit.<\/span><\/p>\n

Though Santa Clara\u2019s CCS run finished with a title and a berth in NorCal play, the Bruins (19-9) are declining the invitation, as is Silver Creek as the runner up.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Kawamoto said that with graduation scheduled to take place next week, and several members of the team having other commitments, the seniors decided to finish their high school careers on a high note.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like a dream,\u201d Boyes said, smiling ear to ear while holding the CCS trophy in her left arm.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Santa Clara’s offense unstoppable early on as Bruins fend off Silver Creek rally<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":850,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\nSanta Clara’s bats bash as Bruins capture first CCS softball title: ‘A dream come true’ - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=851\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Santa Clara’s bats bash as Bruins capture first CCS softball title: ‘A dream come true’ - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Santa Clara's offense unstoppable early on as Bruins fend off Silver Creek rally\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=851\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-30T21:07:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=851#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=851\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"headline\":\"Santa Clara’s bats bash as Bruins capture first CCS softball title: ‘A dream come true’\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-30T21:07:39+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=851\"},\"wordCount\":688,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=851#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/54cdeeef09737dbfc08bd419357e20c8.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Sports\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=851#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=851\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=851\",\"name\":\"Santa Clara’s bats bash as Bruins capture first CCS softball title: ‘A dream come true’ - 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