Big Valley Christian softball takes NorCal D-V title with five-inning win
For the second time in three years, the CIF Northern California Division V Softball Regional Championship plaque was handed to Big Valley Christian head coach Eric Layman.
After winning in 2022 but falling short of qualifying for the NorCal playoffs in 2023, the Lions were at the top of small school softball Saturday after beating Christopher High of Gilroy 10-0.
The Lions finish the season one of just 10 softball regional champions. They collected seven total hits with two players recording multi-hit games. Two players drove in multiple runs and five Lions drew a walk.
“We came out and we’ve been hungry all year,” Layman said in a phone interview Saturday night. “The girls have responded.”
After Morgan Merzon was the Lions’ biggest cheerleader for the first few weeks of the season, her teammates returned the favor Saturday.
Merzon sat out the first five weeks of the season, per the CIF-mandated transfer period, but she stayed engaged.
During early season nonleague games, the junior participated in team cheers and was the first one out of the dugout to high-five and encourage her teammates after a home run or in between innings.
“She’s consistently having fun,” Layman said. “That just makes the game loose. … She makes everyone around her relaxed.”
When she was eligible, she made an immediate impact, starting at center field and hitting leadoff. In the biggest game of the season, Merzon hit two home runs, drove in five runs and scored three times.
After pitcher Ava Hernandez held the Cougars scoreless in the top of the first, Merzon got the Lions started with a leadoff home run. She hit her second long ball of the game in the second inning, a three-run homer to give the Lions a 4-0 lead.
The rest of the team followed suit. In the third inning, Brynn MacWilliams lined an RBI single to right field, Hernandez had a three-run triple and Lexie Hernandez scored on a wild pitch. It was 10-0 after three.
Merzon and sophomore Kailey Rivera each finished with two hits. Rivera added a double and Merzon and Hernandez drove in eight runs total.
“It was just fun to watch the girls have fun,” Layman said. “They came out and they’ve been ready to play all year. It’s been fun.”
Hernandez pitched a shutout in her final high school game. The Azusa Pacific University signee struck out 10 batters and allowed only two hits. She played her final game with catcher Emily Avila, whom she has been teammates with since the two were 7 years old. Layman said the two shared one final postgame hug after the win.
The two have been in sync their entire varsity careers. They knew each after well enough that during the season, Avila asked to start calling her own pitches, Layman said.
“I was like, sure, give it a shot,” he said. “I was almost like a spectator. The two of them did a good job.”
The Lions finished the season on a 15-game winning streak. Their last loss came to Dublin High in a cold tournament game April 6.
“We don’t talk about that game anymore,” Layman said of the 12-1 loss.
Since then, the Lions captured their first league title in recorded school history and claimed their second Division VII Sac-Joaquin Section and second NorCal titles since 2022.
They won both of their titles in five-inning games, outscoring their opponents by an unprecedented 21-0 margin.
“I’d like to say it’s phenomenal coaching, but it’s the girls, not me,” Layman said. “We spend a lot of time hitting and that may be part of the reason (for the runs totals). Offense is contagious.”
Over their 15-win streak, they scored more than 10 runs eight times and had 10 shutouts.
“Part of the way through the season, the team got together and said we had a good chance to go all the way and everyone got on board. That’s when we started the ‘stay hungry’ (mindset),” Layman said. “The girls responded.”
