CHINO HILLS — Guess who’s back, back again?
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Norco’s Tamryn Shorter celebrates after reaching second base during a multi-run inning against Ayala during their CIF SS DIV 1 Softball game at Ayala High School in Chino Hills CA on Saturday, 24 2025. Norco won 6-1. (James Quigg, Contributing Photographer)
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Norco’s Tamryn Shorter celebrates after reaching second base during a multi-run inning against Ayala during their CIF SS DIV 1 Softball game at Ayala High School in Chino Hills CA on Saturday, 24 2025. Norco won 6-1. (James Quigg, Contributing Photographer)
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The Norco softball program knows the way to Barber Park in Irvine, which has been the site of CIF Southern Section championship games since 2001.
The program is set to make its 10th appearance at Deanna Manning Stadium after the Cougars knocked off Ayala 6-1 in a Division 1 semifinal Saturday.
Norco now is tied with Linfield Christian and Paraclete for the second most trips to the section softball finals. Garden Grove Pacifica has the most with 11.
“Anytime you end a season playing for a title is a good year,” Cougars coach Rick Robinson said. “You spend the whole year preparing for that chance.”
The top-seeded Cougars (28-3) will square off against No. 11-seeded El Modena (22-8) for the Division 1 championship, a game that is expected to be played Saturday, May 31 at 7 p.m. It is a rematch of the Dave Kops Tournament of Champions final on March 5, when El Modena pulled out a 6-5 win.
Sophomore Coral Williams allowed a home run early, but that was the only real mistake made by the sophomore right-hander who tossed a three-hitter.
“There were times today when I was trying to be too perfect,” said Williams, who improved to 16-0. “I just regrouped between innings and told myself that I needed to trust my stuff and defense. … I kept saying to myself, ‘Don’t overthink things. You know how to throw, so let yourself be free.’”
Taelor Walker gave the home crowd something to cheer about when she cracked a solo homer over the right-field fence with two outs in the first inning.
“In all my years here, and I’ve been here for many, many years, that’s maybe the second ball I’ve seen go out to right field,” Ayala coach John Ameluxen said about Walker’s fifth home run of the year. “She had a great season, and that was a tremendous shot. It was pulling but just got inside the foul pole.”
Williams’ teammates immediately had her back, however. The Cougars batted around in the top of the second and scored three times to take the lead.
Isabella Ray reached base on an error and Sadie Burroughs followed with a walk. Savannah Gonzalez put down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners into scoring position. Two batters later, Ayala starting pitcher Allie Lukaszewicz went toe-to-toe with Sasha Pham, Norco’s No. 9 batter. Pham saw 10 pitches during that at-bat, seven of which she spoiled with foul balls. On that 10th one, however, Pham singled through the middle to plate Ray and Burroughs.
“I was looking to drive something hard to get those runs home,” said Pham, a junior second baseman who has seven RBIs in three postseason games.
After Tamryn Shorter was plunked by a pitch, Leighton Gray legged out an infield single, allowing Pham to score and extend Norco’s advantage to 3-1.
“It’s always huge when you can answer back,” Robinson said. “Ayala took the lead, but we got the momentum on our side with an even bigger inning.”
Williams relied heavily on her sharp-breaking drop ball in Saturday’s game. It frustrated Ayala’s hitters and led to 12 outs being recorded on the ground.
Ayala (22-3) had an opportunity to respond in the third, after Williams walked one batter and hit another. But a tapper back to the circle ended the threat.
“She kept balls down, and we kept beating it into the ground,” Ameluxen said. “She didn’t dominate us. But she moved the ball, and we didn’t hit it well.”
Norco added to its lead in the fourth inning, when catcher Ashley Duran belted a change-up into the gap in left-center field to bring home two more runs. Each of the Cougars’ runs to that point were scored with two outs, and Duran’s double that gave Norco a 5-1 lead chased Lukaszewicz from the game.
Williams allowed one-out singles in the fifth and seventh innings, but Ayala did not get a runner past second base after Walker’s first-inning home run.
“She gave up the homer, then turned things up a notch,” Robinson said of Williams. “She kept their batters off-time and controlled the game after that.”
Liliana Acosta pitched well in relief (one run on three hits in three innings) for Ayala, which will return in two weeks for the CIF State regional playoffs.
“Tough way to end this, but semis is not bad. Only four teams in this division made it this far,” Ameluxen said. “We’re looking forward to playing in state.”
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