The Steele Canyon Lady Cougars captured the 2006 San Diego Section Division III softball championship, finishing 23-9. The title stood as the first CIF championship for a girls sports team in school history.
Samantha Beasley hurled a four-hit shutout while striking out seven batters to push the Lady Cougars to their history-making win.
The ladies of Steele have had quite a bit of success since then. Beasley won San Diego Section Pitcher of the Year honors in 2006 and Player of the Year honors in 2007 as Steele Canyon won back-to-back Division III championships. Moving up to the Division II ranks, the Lady Cougars posted second place finishes in both the 2009 and 2017 CIF finals.
That brings us to this season’s runner-up finish in the Division I finals, a 4-3 loss to Otay Ranch on May 24 at UC San Diego. The game ended with a runner in scoring position.
Otay Ranch went on to defeat Division II section champion Imperial over the weekend to claim this year’s Division III Southern California title. Steele Canyon’s one-run loss to the Lady Mustangs was every bit as close as the score might suggest, placing the Lady Cougars a play here or there from attaining section andstate royalty.
Cougar country
After dispatching top-seeded Granite Hills in double-elimination play, fourth-seeded Steele Canyon, the second-place finisher in the Grossmont Hills League, met third-seeded Otay Ranch in the winner-take-all Division I championship game.
The Lady Mustangs received a double and two RBI from sophomore Kalina Sangalang and one double and one RBI each from seniors Natalay Lozano and Viviana Vargas. Juniors Itzel Sotoa and Kailyn Phillips each stroked doubles for Otay Ranch.
Sophomore Victoria Resendez held the Lady Cougars in check with three hits in five innings, allowing three runs, two earned, and recording five strikeouts while Phillips pitched two innings with one hit and no runs.
Steele Canyon sophomore Marina Gonzalez pitched six innings with five hits, four earned runs and four strikeouts. Senior Kamea Seunarine double and one RBI while Hailey Trujillo and sophomore Dannika Lakin each had one RBI.
Despite being sidetracked in the Division I section final, the Lady Cougars qualified as the No. 2 seed in the Division III Southern California regional playoffs behind No. 1 seed Otay Ranch. Steele Canyon (23-9-1, 8-2 league) responded with a 3-1 victory over seventh-seeded Valley Christian in the opening round on May 28. Seunarine and junior Isabella Azevedo each collected RBI while Lakin had three hits.
The hosts snapped 1-1 standoff with two runs in bottom of the fifth inning. Gonzalez pitched a complete game with six hits, one earned run seven strikeouts.
The 2024 season ended in the state semifinals with an 8-4 loss in eight innings to No. 3 Imperial. Gonzalez (two RBI) and Seunarine each slugged home runs as the Lady Cougs led early 3-1 and 4-2.
