Congrats to the Roosevelt Lady Riders for being crowned the CIF/L.A. City Section’s Division II, Eastern League’s Champions for 2018! They stepped up big time this season after earning Co-Champions with Bell HS in 2017. Huge Congrats to Head Coach, Javier Carbajal for guiding his team to his first outright Eastern League title. In addition, another big congrats for his team on being named the #1 seed in the playoffs. Their overall regular season team record was an impressive (19-2) while their Eastern League record was a perfect (12-0).
Playoff Update #1: The Lady Riders (20-2) wasted no time in defeating their opening round opponent, Narbonne HS, by the score of (11-1) in five innings, due to the Section’s “mercy rule.” (See game photos in our gallery below). Their current 19 game winning streak is one of the longest in the City Section’s Division II record books. The Lady Riders drew Narbonne as the “Wild Card” winner vs. Bravo.
Coach, Javier Carbajal, a Lincoln HS grad, in only in his second year at the helm, guided his team, not only to So. Cal prominence, but to an amazing #6 national ranking. Per the well-known and reputable Maxpreps.Com, (see their rankings tab for each school), they were placed 1363 Nationally and 203rd in the State. The Lady Riders represent the only L.A. City Section–based school in the Top 10.
Other local schools who made the playoffs are Garfield (Eastern League) which earned the #6 seed while Wilson (Northern League) was given the #7. Coming in at the #5 seed was South Gate, (Eastern League) followed by their scheduled opponent, #12 seeded Mendez (Freeway League).
1st Round Scores: Roosevelt 11 Narbonne 1 (5 innings); Garfield 10 Franklin 1; Wilson 9 Rancho Dominguez 5; and South Gate 11 Mendez 1.
Match-Ups: All Quarterfinal games are on 5/14 with 3 pm start times. #1 Roosevelt vs. #8 Legacy @ Roosevelt; #5 South Gate at #4 Sherman Oaks CES; #6 Garfield at #3 View Park; and #7 Wilson at #2 Arleta. The Semifinals are on Wednesday, 5/16.
Regular Season Lady Riders Recap: In an exclusive East L.A. Sports Scene interview with Coach Carbajal, he informed us that the team started with a season opener victory over Torres, but then lost to two excellent CIF/SS teams in Crescenta Valley and El Monte HS. Those would be the last two defeats the Lady Riders would have on their record for the rest of the season. They started their current 19 game winning streak with a win over Sotomayor HS. And, in winning the Eastern League title, they recorded a perfect (12-0) record. 
Coach made sure to mention his team by their classes. First, his Seniors. These players are: #32 Bianca Godoy, Eastern League, “Player of The Year”/Tri-Capt./P-C-3B/.440/(6-1) pitching record/leads team in At Bats & RBIs/Attending UCSB on an academic scholarship in Sept.; #7 Abigail Gonzalez/Tri-Capt./CF/.410/leads team in HRs with 7; #28 Samantha Avila/Tri-Capt./1B/.460/”Most Improved Player”; #4 Jennifer Pasillas/2B/Honorable Mention All-Eastern League; and #25 Karen Preciado/C/. His Juniors are: #8 Jazlene Ulloa/RF/.450/1st Team All-Eastern League; #12 Alexis Reyna/SS/.440/2nd Team All-Eastern League; and #34 Madison Aranda/OF-INF. His Sophomores are: #2 Samantha Islas/P-3B/(14-1)/2 shut outs/150 Ks/Unanimously Voted “Top Pitcher” in Eastern League/.445; #5 Marcella Ordoñez (C-1B-CF/.430/1st Team All-Eastern League; #24 Daniela Franco/OF/.420/2nd Team All-Eastern League and #27 Candace Lopez/SS-3B. And lastly, Freshmen, #17 Jaclyn Santiago/RF-2B; and #31 Alexis Romero/P-SS, just brought up from the JVs for the playoffs.
Coach Carbajal closed by commenting that “this is a tremendous team with great bonding attitudes that remind me of sisters. They work hard together and help each other at all times. Since day one of practice, they’ve bought in to my coaching philosophy. I can confidently say that we have great team chemistry.” And finally, when asked about his sweep of archrival, Garfield HS, he said that “the tradition, the environment, and just the excitement of Game Day is an amazing experience for all players and coaches. But, in the end, nobody wants to lose. In our great rivalry, any sports competition, automatically brings our community closer together.”
And now once again, it’s time to “Play Ball” as the Lady Riders enjoy home field advantage in taking on the #8 Legacy Lady Tigers at 3 pm. Hope you can make it out to the campus and support this very special team. Let’s Go Lady Riders!
To see the full bracket of the tournament, click here.
Photo Gallery Credits: Douglas Ordoñez, Sr./Contributor/Bell game; Erik Sarni/East L.A. Sports Scene/Narbonne game.