Whittier Christian softball beats St. Paul in semifinals with 7th-inning rally

WHITTIER - Whittier Christian catcher Danni Lopez went through all the emotions.

She went from thinking she let her team down to becoming one of the heroes in a wild finish that saw the Heralds score seven runs in the seventh inning to pull out an 11-8 victory over St. Paul in the CIF Southern Section Division 2 semifinals Saturday.

Both teams showed remarkable toughness.

St. Paul trailed 4-1 going to the bottom of the sixth inning. A bases-clearing triple from pitcher Robyn Guitron drove in three runs to tie the score 4-4. The tying run was seemingly out at the plate, but the ball popped out of Lopez's glove as she tagged St. Paul's Mia Negrete.

The next batter, Isabella Candelas, laid down a squeeze bunt, but Whittier Christian fielded the ball and the throw to the plate seemingly was in time to get the out. But St. Paul's Madelyn Navasu was able to score the go-ahead run when again the ball popped out of Lopez's glove as she applied the tag.

The Swordsmen added two more runs to take a 7-4 lead.

But Lopez had the final say.

Whittier Christian's Danni Lopez talks about her dramatic grand slam, Ali Plimpton talks about the comeback and pitcher Sofia Gonzalez talks about the team picking her up in an 11-8 comeback win over St. Paul to advance to the CIF-SS Division 2 championship. pic.twitter.com/dJRnJQfLU0

- Fred J. Robledo 👨🏻‍💻 (@SGVNSports) May 23, 2026

WOW! Whittier Christian's Danni Lopez belts a no doubt grand slam in the 7th inning to put the Heralds back in front of St. Paul, 9-7. pic.twitter.com/bwGOOUlxOz

- Fred J. Robledo 👨🏻‍💻 (@SGVNSports) May 23, 2026

After the Heralds scored a run in the seventh inning to make it a two-run game, Lopez belted a no-doubt grand slam to left for a 9-7 lead. From there, the Heralds went on to close it out.

Talk about one great comeback upstaging another.

St. Paul coach Charles Gandara tipped his hat to Lopez, noting he saw her fighting off tears after the two missed tags.

"Their catcher made two critical errors in the inning where we scored six (runs), and she actually came up to bat with the bases loaded and she was crying," Gandara said. "She's the one who hits the grand slam, and that's why we do this (coach). That's softball, that's life. If you can handle adversity, you will be better off. Hats off to her."

Whittier Christian (23-8-1) advances to the championship game on May 29 or 30 at Deanna Manning Stadium in Irvine. The Heralds will play Mater Dei.

So, what did Lopez think of what happened?

"I have no words," Lopez said. "Honestly, I had nothing to lose. They just passed the bat to me. I just did my job. I pictured me hitting with my dad and all those reps. It paid off."

The Heralds will be playing for their first championship since winning the Division 5 title in 2010. They also won titles in 2005 and 2009.

Heralds coach Dale Van Duyn talked about the emotions of watching St. Paul's comeback and then an even more improbable comeback by his team.

Whittier Christian coach Dale Van Duyn talked about the emotion of answering St. Paul's comeback with an even more improbable comeback in an 11-8 victory in the CIF-SS Division 2 semifinals. pic.twitter.com/wkSV7XSFNU

- Fred J. Robledo 👨🏻‍💻 (@SGVNSports) May 23, 2026

"After we gave up the six runs, I was going to go to the dugout and tell them, hey, let's not give up, let's stick with it," Van Duyn said. "I didn't get a word in. They were encouraging each other. So, I knew they had the heart. To do what they did was just incredible, I was in awe."

The Heralds sent 11 batters to the plate in the seventh as they scored seven runs on seven hits, with the biggest hit Lopez's slam.

"Danni was struggling at the plate all day," Van Duyn said. "But I know what she's capable of. When she came to the plate I told her to take a deep breath and just relax. She did that, and when she swung the stick, as soon as she made contact, I knew it was gone."

The Heralds also got big contributions from Rutgers commit Mia Camacho, who belted a solo home run in the first inning and scored three runs. Rylee Cull was 2 for 4 with a double and RBI, and Jaelyn Ugalde was 2 for 4 with an RBI.

Whittier Christian's Ali Plimpton, who had a double, triple, RBI and two runs scored, was part of the rally in the seventh inning.

"We just came together. We knew it wasn't going to be easy," Plimpton said of the comeback. "Just trusting each other and having confidence in what we can do."

Heralds junior pitcher Sofia Gonzalez has been a big part of their playoff run. She had been terrific before St. Paul scored six runs in the sixth inning, although only half of the runs were earned.

She was grateful for how her team responded and gave her another chance to be in the circle next week.

"It was so revealing," Gonzalez said. "I knew from the beginning my team was going to have my back and they were going to support me with runs."

St. Paul coach Charles Gandara was all class after a brutal 11-8 loss to Whittier Christian in the CIF-SS Division 2 semifinals. They scored 6 runs in the sixth to take a 7-4 lead. But WC answered with 7 runs in the 7th. He talked about the wave of emotions. pic.twitter.com/5FNFS5c0U0

- Fred J. Robledo 👨🏻‍💻 (@SGVNSports) May 23, 2026

St. Paul (19-13) got its biggest offensive contribution from Guitron, who was 2 for 4 with four RBIs. Negrete was 2 for 3 with three runs scored and an RBI. Eveny Gomez was 2 for 5.

"Tip your cap to them," Gandara said of Whittier Christian. "You compete for 21 outs. We talk about that all the time, it's never over until it's over. Both teams continued to compete and that's why I love the game."

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