Four locals, including three Los Al Griffin alums, are playing at the Women’s College Softball World Series – which opened play Thursday in Oklahoma City, and three are still playing in today’s semifinals which pit UCLA vs. Oklahoma, and Texas vs. Oklahoma State.
The three former Griffins are Mary Iakopo (’17) and two members of last year’s class, Sophia Nugent and Erin Mendoza. The non-Griffin is Kelly Godin of College Park West and Mater Dei (’18).
Iakopo, a member of the 2017 CIF champion squad, led the Texas Longhorns this year with 10 homers and 56 RBIs, and a .335 average. She busted open their College World Series opener against UCLA by hitting a two run homer to give the Longhorns a 4-0 lead en route to a 7-2 win over the Bruins.
"BACK IT GOES! … TEXAS HAS BUSTED IT OPEN!"
A 2-run shot from Mary Iakopo gives @TexasSoftball a 4-0 lead. pic.twitter.com/QOGkxgIzn4
— ESPN (@espn) June 2, 2022
Iakopo, a senior who splits time between Catcher and First base, has been on fire at the plate over the last 17 games, hitting .412 with four doubles, three HR’s and a team-high 20 RBIs. She also reached base safely in 16-of-17 games & hit safely in 15-of-17 games in that stretch.
Texas then fell on Saturday to No. 1 ranked Oklahoma, 7-2, sending them to the opposite losers bracket and a match with another Big 12 rival, Oklahoma State. Texas must beat Oklahoma State twice today to advance to the Best of 3 championship round. A single Texas loss ends their season. The first game is scheduled for 4pm our time. If Texas wins, the second contest is slated for 6:30pm.
The same scenario holds true for UCLA in their match against Oklahoma. Playing outfield for UCLA is Kelly Godin of College Park West and Mater Dei. Godin, a redshirt junior, was second-team All-America in both 2019 and 2021. She helped UCLA rally back from the Texas loss with a win over Northwestern, then got two hits and a run scored in UCLA’s 8-0 quarterfinal win over Florida. Godin is now is hitting .306 this year. The Bruins play No. 1 ranked and unbeaten Oklahoma at 9am PST today. The UCLA-Oklahoma game is on ESPN, beginning at 9am Pacific Time. If UCLA wins, the rubber match would be played at 11:30 our time.
Playing for Oklahoma is freshman Sophia Nugent (Los Al ‘21) who is not starting but seeing considerable playing time this year. Nugent’s Sooners are seeking their sixth national title in program history and fourth in the last six postseasons. They started off with a bang with two grand slams in a 13-2 win over Northwestern. They then sent Texas to the losers bracket by a 7-2 score.
Also getting some College World Series swag is another Griffin alum, Oregon State freshman Erin Mendoza. Mendoza’s OSU Beavers fell to Florida 7-1 in the first round, and then dropped a game to Arizona on Saturday and were eliminated.
WATER POLO: Former Griffin Bayley Weber earns 2nd team All-America honors
Former Los Al water polo star Bayley Weber, now playing for USC, earned second-team All-American honors this season. This is the second straight year Weber has earned All-America Second Team honors.
No quit in this All-American! Congrats to Bayley for her Second Team selection!#FightOn ✌️ pic.twitter.com/C3NMVJMYiv
— USC Water Polo (@USCWaterPolo) June 3, 2022
Weber has also been invited to practice with the US Women’s National team , where she will have the chance to play alongside fellow griffin alum Rachel Fattal, a two-time Olympic Gold medal champion.
BASKETBALL: Crocker hires on as assistant coach at Colgate
Former Griffin star Camryn Crocker has been hired as an assistant basketball coach at Colgate. Crocker, a 2011 graduate of Los Al, was a standout guard and senior year captain at Penn, where he graduated with his Bachelor of Arts in 2015 and his Master of Science in Education in 2018. After a year as a teacher-coach at Northfield Mount Hermon, he was hired in 2019 as the director of player development at Stanford and helped the Cardinal Stanford to 50 wins and 27 conference victories.
Let’s get to work! 📚🏀🏆 https://t.co/0aDTqTiG21
— Camryn Crocker (@camcrocker_) June 1, 2022
