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Sasha Pham helps Norco softball team rally past King in Big VIII League title-clinching win – San Bernardino Sun

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NORCO — The Norco softball team needed a spark Tuesday afternoon. And the flame was ignited by two less-than-usual suspects.

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Norco’s Leighton Gray #14 dives for a line drive single hit by King’s Lynnette Vu #15 in the Big VIII League softball game in Norco on Tuesday, April 29, 2025. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

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Kendra Nelsen’s pinch-hit single tied the score with two outs in the bottom of the fourth inning, and No. 9 hitter Sasha Pham followed with a three-run home run as the Cougars rallied for a 6-3 victory over King and clinched the program’s third consecutive Big VIII League title.

Norco (24-2 overall, 8-0 in league) registered eight hits, five of those coming from the bottom three hitters in the lineup or a pinch-hitter.

“This might be as complete a team as we’ve ever had here,” Cougars coach Rick Robinson said. “When you’re talking 1 through 20, we have players who can contribute in different ways. We can move things around and bring players off the bench and still get things done.”

Dillyn Eckenrod led off the bottom half of the third inning with a triple to center and scored the game’s first run on a sacrifice fly by Pham.

King (12-10, 5-3) strung together four straight hits with one out in the top of the fourth to take the lead. Brooke Lebsock got things started for the Wolves with a double down the left-field line. Two batters later, Mya Allen bounced a single up the middle to bring home two runs. King had the chance to add more but left runners at second and third, two of the seven runners the Wolves stranded in scoring position.

Leighton Gray singled to lead off Norco’s half of the fourth with a single and moved up to second on Bella Ray’s second sacrifice bunt of the game. Nelsen, a freshman, came off the bench with two outs and dropped a singled into shallow left field to bring home the tying run.

Pham turned on an inside pitch and drilled a ball over the first row of cars in the parking lot. It was Pham’s second home run of the year.

“He (Robinson) gave me the hit-and-run sign, so I knew I needed to get it in play,” said Pham, who came into the game hitting .264 with eight runs batted in. “I was just looking to move runners around. I knew I got a good piece, but I wasn’t expecting it to go out on our field.”

Robinson said he actually wiped away the hit-and-run sign. He said the immediate response was important for winning Tuesday’s game.

“King took the momentum away from us, and we were able to grab it right back,” Robinson said. “You need that to win these big games.”

Norco added one more insurance run during the sixth as Savannah Gonzalez beat out an infield single that scored Gray with two outs.

But King did not go away quietly. The Wolves were down to their final out, but three straight batters reached base against Norco reliever Coral Williams. Cheri Thompson smashed a double to the wall in left field to plate one run and bring the tying run to the plate. Lebsock then hit a slower roller to short, but the game ended when Thompson was called out for interfering with Gray’s ability to make the play.

King had eight players register one hit in the game. but Wolves coach Lana Carlone was not pleased with the overall effort at the plate.

“We just ripped them apart about a lack of quality at-bats,” Carlone said. “We’re being too picky up there. We keep telling them you have to make pitchers pay when they’re behind in the count. And you have to attack early. So that’s where the frustration is for us right now.”

King fell into a tie for second place with Roosevelt in the standings. Those teams are one game up on Centennial with two left to play.

Eckenrod (Norco’s No. 8 hitter) and Gray each had two hits for the Cougars. Williams allowed one run and three hits in 3 2/3 innings to pick up the win.



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