NEWMAN – Orestimba High softball head coach Joaquin Marroquin feels his team has been playing stronger in recent weeks.
That is good news for the Warriors, who are heading into the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Softball Playoffs – Division V this week.
Orestimba (17-10 overall, 6-6 in the Trans-Valley League) earned the No. 8 spot. On Wednesday, the Warriors will host No. 9 Union Mine High’s squad (11-10 overall), which is part of the Sierra Valley Conference in the Sacramento area. Union Mine is in the town of El Dorado, just outside of Placerville in El Dorado County. The game is scheduled to start at 4 p.m.
“We’d been sitting in this position for weeks,” said Marroquin, “so when the final brackets came out on Friday, we were relieved and excited to host a first-round playoff game.”
This year is a better situation for Orestimba than in the 2025 season. That is because the Warriors made the trek to San Andreas to play at Calaveras in the first round of the D-V playoffs. The Reds recorded a 6-2 win.
The Union Mine-Orestimba winner will play No. 17 West Campus of Sacramento-No. 16 Mesa Verde of Citrus Heights/No. 1 Hughson victor on Friday. West Campus and Mesa Verde are a play-in game scheduled to play on Monday, with the winner playing at Hughson on Wednesday. The Friday game is also scheduled for 4 p.m.
“Our girls are pumped for a playoff game environment against Union Mine,” Marroquin said. “Every game in (the) playoffs will be competitive, and we’re ready to bring our best game regardless of who we play.”
The other four teams in the same bracket as Orestimba, and playing on Wednesday, are No. 12 Wheatland at No. 5 Casa Roble of Orangevale and No. 13 Woodland at No. 4 Liberty Ranch of Galt.
In the opposite bracket, No. 14 Galt plays at No. 3 Sutter, No. 11 Lincoln of Lincoln at No. 6 Ripon, No. 10 Woodland Christian at No. 7 Escalon and No. 18 Venture Academy/No. 15 Livingston winner at No. 2 Calaveras. The Venture Academy-Livingston play-in game was also played on Monday.
Orestimba 5, Hilmar 3
In its TVL finale on the Yellowjackets’ diamond on May 5, Orestimba erased Hilmar’s 3-0 lead in the top of the fourth inning by scoring all its runs for the win.
“Playing in the TVL has prepared us to compete against anyone in these coming playoff games,” Marroquin said. “Our practices recently have been consistent and efficient with a focus of building our best lineup to hopefully make a deep playoff run.”
The Warriors outslugged Hilmar, 9-8.
Victoria Silva, a freshman, went 2-for-3 with an RBI for the Warriors.
Cayla Finley joined Orestimba teammates Karina Gonzalez, Rae Oliveros, Salce Machado, Johanna Perez, Hailey Starr and Ellery Gustafson each having a hit. Finley’s hit was a double.
Gonzalez and Gustafson each had 2 RBIs.
In the circle, Starr went the distance for the Warriors. She struck out four Hilmar batters, gave up eight hits and walked none.
Mike Bush is a multimedia journalist who was born and raised in the Stanislaus and Merced County areas. Follow him on X/Twitter @MikeBMultimedia and Instagram @mikebushmedia.
