By Justin HAGER

After a wild week of matchups between the top teams in the Pacific League, the Crescenta Valley High School girls’ softball team sits alone atop the Pacific League standings.

The game started precariously for the Falcons as Arcadia put a run on the board almost instantly in the first inning. But the Falcons responded just as quickly, scoring four in the second inning, including two runs on a hard-hit second-inning bases loaded single by junior Lily Hinkle.

The Apaches rallied in the third after they prevented the Falcons from scoring despite an early triple from sophomore Anais Ochoaas and then came out swinging in their half of the inning as the top of their lineup continued this season’s unparalleled offensive production. However, the Apaches failed to fully capitalize on their early inning hits, scoring only two and ending the third still trailing to the Falcons 4-3.

Sensing that Arcadia was not going to relent, the Falcons stepped up in the top of the fourth looking for insurance runs. They had already scored one and put two more on base when sophomore Haley Krohn pelted a ball over the left field wall for a three-run homer and an 8-3 Falcon lead.

Arcadia clawed its way back into the game, scoring three runs in the fifth inning. And the Falcons left the door open for a comeback in the seventh when a questionable call at home plate and a series of running errors prematurely ended their opportunity for some insurance runs.

However, once again Arcadia failed to capitalize and CVHS secured the 8-6 victory and sole possession of first place in the Pacific League.

CVHS’ win couldn’t have come at a better time. Just 10 days ago, Arcadia was the clear League favorite, having just completed a clean sweep of all three of its closest rivals in the League as the Falcons’ licked the wounds from their first match against Arcadia and their first Pacific League loss of the season. But since then, its been all Crescenta Valley as it made its own sweep of its top League rivals, including a 7-0 shutout of Burbank, a nail-biting last inning comeback against preseason favorite Burroughs, and Tuesday’s win over Arcadia.

Those same 10 days were particularly rough on Burroughs and Burbank, both of which are now likely to finish the regular season outside of the top-three as the surging Pasadena Bulldogs, which started the season 0-3 but are now tied with Burbank at 5-5, leapfrog into a top-three finish.

With Burbank and Burroughs in near freefall, the Pacific League championship looks likely to come down to the last game of the season – next Thursday’s Senior Day rematch between CVHS and Arcadia, at Crescenta Valley High. With the regular season title on the line, Coach Joel Curtis encouraged fans to come out to the game wearing Falcon blue and celebrate this year’s seniors. Game time is set for 3:30 p.m. from CVHS.