Shanen Kreipl

School: Huntington Beach High

Sport: Softball

Position: Center fielder

Class: Senior

No matter how solid your pitching in softball, you have to hit at least a bit to win, and Kreipl provided the spark that propelled formerly struggling Huntington Beach to three Sunset League victories last week. For a team that hadn’t scored in two games, losing the second despite a 10-inning no-hit pitching performance, it was a welcome relief. Kreipl drove in the first run of the week with a single off Fountain Valley ace Rae Rice. The run tied the score, 1-1, and the Oilers eventually defeated then-No. 1-ranked Fountain Valley, 4-1. “It just took that one to take the pressure off everybody,” Huntington Beach Coach Julie Parmenter said. “That was a really key hit for us.” Later in the week, Kreipl had two doubles and a triple in a 6-1 victory over Edison and hit a two-run home run in her first at-bat in a 12-3 victory over Santa Ana. She sprained her wrist after tangling with the catcher at the plate while scoring and sat out the rest of the game. She is expected to be back for today’s game against Westminster for first place in the league.

Other top performers:

Maegan Juggert, who had two hits and five RBIs in El Toro’s 8-0 victory over then-No. 5 Los Alamitos.

Cheryl Longeway, who was named the MVP of the Woodbridge tournament after a three-hit, 1-0 victory over Bellflower in the championship game. Longeway also pitched a three-hitter with nine strikeouts and had three hits and three RBIs in a 10-0 victory over La Quinta.

Shareen Patton, who won two games of a doubleheader for University--a one-hitter over San Clemente in the first game and a five-inning no-hitter in the second.