The COVID-19 pandemic proved to create one giant obstacle for the Pasadena City College softball program. One-and-a-half seasons cancelled caused a ripple effect as PCC head coach Monica Tantlinger found herself essentially starting from scratch for the 2022 season.
Not a single player remains from the 2020 squad as Tantlinger is carrying a remarkable 16 freshmen and two sophomore transfers for this season. The long layoff of not playing a game since Mar. 7, 2020 had the coach and her staff having to cultivate a completely redone roster.
"In 2020, we were 11-9 and feeling really good about maybe making a fourth straight trip to the postseason...then COVID hit and it just changed everything," Tantlinger said. "We were doing zooms and then just the long wait of not practicing, not being in person, then having the 2021 season taken away. It was too much to ask our returning young ladies to stick around when they needed to continue their college educations. When I took over the program in 2014, we had eight sophomores already part of the program with college-playing experience. To have an entire recruiting class make up the roster this year is new territory for us."
Tantlinger has kept a positive attitude about returning to action this month.
"I think we are all really looking forward to getting back out on the diamond. Not having played for almost two years, there is an excitement building. I have not seen one single player we have on this roster compete for PCC yet, and that in itself adds to the butterflies! This team has great chemistry and a desire to win, they are serious about their goals and that's all we can ask for at this moment."
PCC's starting nine begins with lefty-hitting newcomer Marcella Ordonez at first base. Ordonez was an All-LA City First Team selection in 2019 at Roosevelt High. At second base, frosh leadoff hitter Gizelle Leyva supplies speed and potential run production. Leyva also was an All-LA City Division II selection while at Woodrow Wilson High (hit .470 in 2019). Priscilla Ortega, a transfer from East Los Angeles College who got her sophomore season back (hit .245 for the Huskies in 2020), is slated at shortstop, but has played several infield positions, outfield and even caught at ELAC. Over at third base is power-hitting Jaimie Harris, who batted .406 with six home runs and 24 RBI at Glendale High in 2019 (All-Pacific League honorable mention).
The Lancers are deep at catcher with four players listed behind the plate. The top two are Aniya Kessell (South Hills High) and Alyssa Ceballos, an All-Montview High First Team player out of Azusa High. The team's designated player (softball's version of a designated hitter) figures to be the team's other sophomore transfer in Montserra Fukumoto, who also came to PCC via East LA College.
The team's outfield is led by centerfielder Breanna Rodriguez, a strong defensive talent and sound hitter who also played on Azusa's first Montview League champion team in 14 years in 2021. Mika Ibarra, a .417 hitter while at Nogales High, will play left field and Giselle Lopez (San Dimas HS) was to start in right field. Kessell will also see time in the Lancers outfield.
PCC doesn't have a clear-cut ace yet in the pitching circle but have some talented young arms in Kimberly Dea (Gabrielino High, who was 10-2, 2.11 ERA, with 89 strikeouts in 60 innings as a junior), Kiley Kraft (Ramona Convent Secondary, a 2019 Pasadena Star-News All-Area Second Team selection), and Iliana Cardenas, last year's MVP of the Montview League at Azusa High where she pitched 11 wins with a microscopic 0.67 ERA and 66 strikeouts in 63 innings. Ivanna Villalobos (Bell Gardens High) and Ibarra also are part of the pitching staff.
PCC's bench support includes 5-foot-11 first baseman Savanna Redhouse (All-LA City Division II at Franklin High), lefty-hitting first baseman/outfielder Vianey Orozco (Sierra Vista High), and catcher-outfielders Mistie Mares (Garfield High) and Sofia Arellano (Monrovia HS).
Today, Pasadena opened the season on a sour note as host Antelope Valley won 9-1 in a game called in the fifth inning due to the 8-run mercy rule. Ordonez was 2-for-3 in her PCC debut, Ibarra drew two walks and scored the team's lone run, Dea was 1-for-2, and Leyva knocked in the run, reaching on a single in the second inning, and she stole a base.
The Lancers host Palomar on Saturday, Jan. 29 in a doubleheader at Robinson Park. The games are at 12 noon and 2 p.m. The 21-game, South Coast Conference schedule on Tuesday, Feb. 8 against visiting El Camino College.
Lancers 2022 Complete Softball Schedule