Mater Dei Catholic’s triple play: league, CIF, regional titles

Few would dispute that the Mater Dei Catholic High School girls softball team turned in one of its best-ever showing on record.
The Lady Crusaders finished the 2026 spring season with a commanding 31-3 record, Metro-Mesa League championship, San Diego Section Open Division championship and Southern California Division I regional championship.

There wasn’t much more for them to win unless the state CIF office eventually creates a bona fide state championship game or series between the Southern California and Northern California regional champions.

In the meantime, Mater Dei Catholic can bask in the afterglow of a magical season that ended with a 10-game winning streak. They were 6-0 in Metro-Mesa play, 4-0 in the section playoffs and 3-0 in regional competition.

The crowning achievement for the top-seeded Lady Crusaders was a second consecutive SoCal regional championship following a 3-1 win over second-seeded La Habra on June 6.

Adding up the numbers, Mater Dei Catholic finished the season ranked No. 4 in the state and No. 16 in the nation.

The three teams ahead of them in the state rankings: No. 1 Norco (28-3), No. 2 Destiny Christian Academy (31-0) and No. 3 JSerra Catholic (25-8). Destiny Christian American earned the season ranked ninth national while Norco was ranked No. 12 and JSerra Catholic was ranked 31st.San Juan Capistrano’s JSerra Catholic concluded a history-making season by winning the school’s first-ever Southern Section Division I championship with a playoff run that included a 1-0 win over Pacifica (quarterfinals), 2-0 win over defending champion Norco (semifinals) and 3-2 win over La Habra (championship game).

Sacramento’s Destiny Christian Academy defeated Whitney, 6-3, to claim the NorCal Division I regional championship.

Only La Habra competed in the Division I SoCal regional tournament.

Mater Dei Catholic lost, 5-1, to Norco in a non-league game on May 2.

Louisiana’s Calvary Baptist Academy (37-1) and Texas’ Lake Creek (40-1) and Barbers Hill (41-5) finished as the nation’s top three ranked teams.
Any way one spins the rankings, Mater Dei Catholic deserved to rank among America’s elite teams.

The Mater Dei Way
The Lady Crusaders finished the season with a composite 0.339 hitting average, 1.00 ERA and 35 stolen bases. It was easy to see from those numbers why the team generated so much success this season.

Mater Dei Catholic players combined for 309 hits, 180 RBI, 62 doubles, nine triples and 22 home runs.

Top hitters included junior Maya Matthies with a 0.404 hitting average, 21 RBI, 12 doubles, three triples and two home runs, senior Bella Harris with a 0.398 hitting average, 17 RBI, two doubles, two triples and four home runs, junior Sunny Sosa with a 0.387 hitting average, 14 RBI and seven doubles, senior Gigi Flores with a 0.385 hitting average, 30 RBI, 12 doubles and six home runs, junior Arri Romero with a 0.377 hitting average, 31 RBI, seven doubles, one triple and five home runs and junior Charlize “Chuck” Masingale with a 0.365 hitting average, 19 RBI, nine doubles and two home runs.

Romero was the team’s RBI leader and also the ace in the pitching circle with a 27-3 record, 106 ERA and 176 strikeouts in 178.1 innings.
Sophomore Rose Arias finished the season 4-0 with a 0.68 ERA and 34 strikeouts in 41 innings while junior Ari Larios posted a 2.10 ERA in two appearances.

Harris keyed the team on the basepaths with 17 stolen bases.

The 31 wins match the team’s 31-4 record posted during the 2019 season.

While five seniors are graduating, the team is still strong with its returning underclassmen, buttressed by six juniors on this year’s team, including Romero, Masingale, Matthies and Anabelle Gallagher. They will be expected to step up as leaders next season.

Many of the team’s players have already sewn up plans for college careers. Romero has committed to the University of Arizona, while Harris has committed to Cal Baptist, Masingale has committed to UCLA, Matthies has committed to Oregon, Flores has committed to Redlands. Other senior commits include Liana Quinones (Colgate), Jahsiya Blaney (Post University) and Juju Soto (Mesa College).

MDC co-head coach Liz Centrullo credited the team’s overall success to its great chemistry and bonding. The team will cap its triple play season with a trip to where else? — Disneyland.

The Magic Kingdom.