By Jason KUROSU

The perennially successful Crescenta Valley Girls’ Softball team finished off another strong season last month, finishing with a 21-4 record overall and tied for first place with Burroughs in the Pacific League with a 13-1 league record. The team will lose 10 players to graduation, including star player Erin Ashby, who finished the year with an impressive .636 batting average and 10 home runs, along with stellar pitching (2.02 ERA and .205 BAA). Ashby will be attending Stanford next year.

Head coach Dan Berry is used to the revolving door rosters inherent in scholastic sports.

“You try to build with what you have coming in,” said Berry.

Regarding the departing Erin Ashby, Berry said, “Of course, you can’t replace someone like that. We expect that she will have a tremendous year at Stanford.”

With more than half of the team gone, the Falcons will look to new leaders like Allison Lacey, Stephanie Berrellez, Jessica Morena and Hannah Cookson.

“We expect them to lead by example, on and off the field and play for the name on front of the jersey and not the one on the back,” said Berry.

Berry was quick to point out that “stats don’t mean everything,” especially in terms of leadership qualities, but it should be pointed out that Lacey, Berrellez, Morena and Cookson all put up impressive numbers last year. Cookson, as a freshman, led the team with 45 RBIs last season and was second behind Ashby with a .538 batting average. Lacey, Berrellez and Morena all batted well over .300.

The Falcons have won the Pacific League Championship in four out of the last five seasons and will certainly look to repeat as champions next year.

  CV GIRLS, GINA WALKER, Jason Kurosu, JUNE 30, Sports