Saturday, April 28, 2012 would be one of the most unforgettable and probably, most shocking moments in all of San Pedro Prep Sports.

On a bright, early and beautiful day at Recreation Park in El Segundo, the San Pedro and Port Of Los Angeles High softball teams would kick off the El Segundo Tournament against each other for the second straight season, both on a roll with the Pirates riding a nine-game winning streak, and the Polar Bears on a six-game win streak of their own.

The experienced Pirates were more than ready to pounce on their in-city neighbors and defeat POLA for the second year in a row, but the Polar Bears on the other hand, had other ideas.

When it all ended, it produced one the most exciting regular season games ever witnessed.

And it only seemed fitting that the David in this story (POLA) would once again slay the Goliath (San Pedro).

In a game that only lasted six innings due to the El Segundo Tournament's one hour, 45-minute time limit, Kelsea Short would come up big with a walk-off RBI-single that drove home Adriana Vargas to propel POLA to a dramatic 6-5 victory over San Pedro, a victory that will certainly reverberate throughout the entire community. The Polar Bears' historic win would be the first over the Pirates in any sport on the varsity level.

POLA rallied from an early 4-0 deficit to make this victory seem even more improbable, especially since San Pedro defeated the Polar Bears, 9-0 in 2011 when they met for the first time in the first round of this tournament.

San Pedro would jump to the early lead when Taylor Garcia belted a two-run double to right-center field in the top of the first inning to drive home Koral Costa and Chloe Oro for a 2-0 advantage, then in the second inning, Costa's RBI-single to center field drove home Katrina Herrera. Costa advanced to third base on her single when POLA's Sarah Maldonado misplayed the bounce for an error.

Oro would blast a double over POLA's Everly Loera's head in right field to plate Costa, and the Pirates had the four-run edge that put the Polar Bears on the ropes, and seemingly down for the count, but like any heavyweight prize fighter, POLA would get right back up and counter-attack with a run of their own in the bottom of the second inning.

San Pedro pitcher Samantha Lauro quickly retired the first two POLA batters, then Briana Valencia would keep the inning alive with the Polar Bears' first hit of the day. The next three batters, including Short, would draw a walk, with Short's bases-loaded free pass driving home Valencia to put the Polar Bears on the board. 

Making perhaps the boldest move as POLA's head coach, Melissa Bugarin-Espinoza would relieve Maldonado, the next scheduled hitter, for a very raw Laura Leos, who was only with the team for her second game in uniform after missing the first half of the season, to pinch-hit in a crucial situation. The strategy would pay dividends as a passed ball allowed Vargas to score on the first pitch Leos saw.

Immediately after that crucial mistake by the Pirates, Leos would make them pay with a two-run single to right field that drove home both Drucilla Gonzales and Short for the game-tying runs, and the entire complexion of the game changed drastically for the Polar Bears.

Both teams would threaten in the waning innings, with POLA leaving runners at second and third base in the bottom of the third inning, and San Pedro not being able to produce with runners on first and second base in the top of the fourth inning, as Lauro and POLA pitcher Nicolle Miranda both bailed their teams out with clutch inning-ending strikeouts.

Once the sixth inning came about, the time limit kicked in, so both teams would start each half of the sixth inning with a runner on second base, which makes up the California tie breaker procedure.

San Pedro would reclaim the lead in the top of the sixth when Tori Garcia scored off Doreen Corella's RBI-ground out for a 5-4 lead. Then when it was POLA's turn, they went back to the old basic fundamentals of 'small ball', and again, yet another strategy would work in their favor.

Valencia's sacrifice bunt moved over the designated runner Tiffany Mercado to third base, then Vargas executed a perfect suicide squeeze bunt that ended up not only bringing home Mercado for the tying run, San Pedro catcher Alexa Ponce booted the throw home which allowed Vargas to advance to second base. Loera then sacrificed Vargas to third base with a third straight bunt, setting the stage for Short.

Facing a 1-and-1 count, Short would drill Lauro's next offering into the left field gap, allowing Vargas to easily score and the celebration was on for the Polar Bears.

Normally, it would be San Pedro who would provide the come-from-behind heroics, which would lead them to the majority of their 16 City Section championships, but on this day, it was the Polar Bears, the reigning Small Schools Division 3 CIF-LACS champions, giving the Pirates a taste of their own medicine.

Short would finish 2-for-3 with a walk, the winning RBI, and a run scored to pace POLA. Miranda earned the win despite allowing five runs (one unearned) on four walks, striking out seven. Costa went 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI with two runs scored for San Pedro. Oro went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored, while Garcia and Herrera had the other two hits for the Pirates. 

Lauro pitched valiantly in defeat, scattering six runs (one unearned) with six walks, striking out four for San Pedro.

Both schools, in typical San Pedro fashion, brought a spirited crowd to inject some of that good old 'Pedro Pride' to the great city of El Segundo, adding more mystique to this outstanding once-in-a-lifetime showdown.