Not little Holtville anymore! Viking softball claims first IVL crown!
Vikings shake off slow start and rally to win program's first outright Imperial Valley League title
HOLTVILLE, Calif ( KYMA, KECY-TV ) - Through years of Imperial Valley League play, the Holtville Vikings softball program never wanted to settle for a piece of an Imperial Valley League title, they wanted the whole thing.
Last season, the Vikings had the IVL title slip through their fingers late in the season to Brawley. They still went on with win the Division IV CIF San Diego Section Championship and advance to the California Southern Region championship game for the first time in school history. With all the success, there was a little something missing.
Heading onto Thursday night's finale, the Vikings held at least a share of the IVL title with Brawley if they were to lose to Southwest and Brawley were to defeat Central. Holtville wanted more, they didn't want to share anything with anyone no matter how big the school or what division they were in.
On Thursday night, the Vikings held a 3-1 lead heading into the fourth inning. Southwest rallied to tie the score at three. In front of the home crowd, the night would belong to Holtville, the Vikings scored four runs late and went on to win 7-3, to claim the program's first ever IVL league crown.
"It feels so good," Holtville head coach Melissa Snyder said. "We knew that this week we were still in the driver's seat and it was our destiny to control."
Snyder has instilled a "refuse to lose" attitude within the Holtville softball program. Snyder repeatedly refers to the Holtville style of play as "drowning the rats."
"It just means you don't let your opponent come up for air," Snyder said. "You keep the pedal to the metal and that's what we did tonight."
"I can't honestly describe it, I'm speechless right now," Pitcher Kalli Starhm said. "I'm still running on that high and we'll celebrate tonight but know we'll have practice on Friday and focus on CIF and what's to come."
Holtville is almost assured a high playoff seed and possibility after the CIF San Diego Division III brackets are announced on Saturday.
