Softball: Cox's Return Boosts Spartans Playoff Run

The top-ranked La Canada softball team made quite the opening statement in its win over Ramona Convent the first round of the CIF-Southern Section Division 5 playoffs last Thursday.

Senior pitcher Lauren O’Leary recorded the first perfect game of her career. The Spartans knocked around the overmatched Tigers for 16 hits and nine runs. In short, they performed just how you’d expect a No. 1 seed to when all the pieces point toward a run to a CIF-SS title.

“Definitely a coach can’t ask much more than his pitcher going out there and throwing a perfect game,” Spartans coach KC Mathews said.

But lost amid the perfect game was something of significance in the grand scheme of the Spartans’ title hopes, which continue Tuesday with a second round game at Hemet at 3:15 p.m.

Junior Lauren Cox went 2-for-3 with a double and a run scored against the Tigers in her first action at the plate this year. Cox hit .308 in 24 games last year splitting her time between pitcher and designated hitter, but she missed almost the entire regular season because of preseason groin injury that refused to go away.

“Lauren has been working really hard to get back this year,” Mathews said. “She’s had a nagging leg injury that has really hampered her this year.”

“ … There was a sigh of relief (Thursday). I think any athlete wants to get out there and compete and show what she can do. She took advantage of the opportunity and had quite a day.”

Mathews said it’s likely Cox will play some kind of role in Tuesday’s game. While Cox made a name for herself as one half of the Spartans' lethal pitching duo with O'Leary next year, it's unlikely O'Leary will be bumped out of the circle given her season-long dominance.

“I would say (Cox’s) approaching as healthy as she’s been all year," Mathews said. “Groins they tend to stay with you and stay with you. … We’re excited to get her back in whatever role she can play.”

And if she continues to swing a hot bat, the Spartans will have another weapon to pair with senior Anna Edwards (.468 batting average) and junior Catherine Horner (.458).

The Spartans will need those three hitters along with O’Leary to be on the top of their games Tuesday against upstart Hemet. The Bulldogs took an eight-hour bus ride last Thursday up to Morro Bay and scored a 6-0 win over the Los Padres League champs.

“To have the focus to handle that bus ride and perform as well as they did,” Mathews said, “that’s impressive in the first round as a wild card team.”

La Canada will endure its own lengthy road trip when it makes the two-hour journey to play Hemet. Mathews said the Spartans are scheduled to depart for Hemet at 11 a.m.

The Spartans aren’t the only local squad to hit the road Tuesday. Flintridge Prep travels about 73 miles to Rim of the World in Lake Arrowhead in the Division 6 playoffs. The Rebels advanced with a 2-1 win over Santa Paula in the first round, while Rim of the World knocked off Academy for Academic Excellence by a score of 4-1.

In the Division 5 playoffs, San Marino plays at Arroyo at 3:15 p.m. in nearby El Monte. The Knights won the Mission Valley League and boasts a 17-6 record.

Rio Hondo Prep hosts Paraclete of the Alpha League in a Division 6 playoff game at 3:15 p.m.