The Santa Monica High softball team has won five consecutive Ocean League championships, and with ten players batting above .300 this season a sixth straight title is imminent.
amohi has an 8-0 league record following a pair of 10-0 victories at the start of May over Beverly Hills and Hawthorne, and will conclude its league schedule with a game at Morningside and another at Culver City. Then the Vikings’ skills will be tested in the CIF playoffs.
Sophomore Celisha Walker is the team’s star pitcher and also leads in batting with a .430 average. Next are Kelsey Hom (.409) and Kaile Nakao (.396).
Danielle Hearn is fourth (.393), followed by Holly Elander (.387), Andrea Linares (.374), Cianna Guerrero (.359), Alyson Herman (.357), Emma Woo (.355) and Hailey Sheridan (.317).
Walker has pitched 104 innings, struck out 104 batters and walked only 18, turning in 16 complete games and compiling a 12-4 record. Sheridan has been the Vikings’ other starting pitcher and has a 6-3 record with 43 strikeouts in 43 innings.
It’s a young team with only three seniors and one of the best in Debbie Skaggs’ 20 years as the coach. And yet, there is another level to be conquered — the stronger opponents confronted in non-league and tournament games. Samohi has lost several of those, bringing its overall record to 19-8. Most recently, Samohi lost to Torrance 6-0 and Bishop Montgomery 6-3.
As the league champion, the Vikings are likely to have a home playoff game in the first round.
