For the past two seasons, the Port Of Los Angeles High softball team has reigned supreme as CIF-Los Angeles City Section Small Schools champions by going above and beyond that 'small school' term.

What has also been constant is the tried and true clutch exploits of two players in particular...

Junior shortstop Kelsea Short and senior catcher Brianna Grayson.

The performances they have both turned in alone in their two championship victories is enough validation for Short and Grayson, but they haven't stopped, and that's why it has been very hard to contend with the Polar Bears regardless of who their opponent is considering their current record together in three years is 55-23. The dynamic duo will get their chance to add to their resume should they topple Valley Academy Arts & Sciences in Tuesday's semifinal.

Two years ago, Short and Grayson were responsible for POLA's scoring output against Northridge Academy in the 2011 City Section Small Schools finals at Birmingham High of Lake Balboa.

In the bottom of the first inning, Grayson hit a lead-off single, then scored off Short's RBI-single. Three innings later, Short led off with a single, then advanced to second with a fielding error, finally scoring off a throwing miscue that was triggered by Stephanie Ramirez's attempted sacrifice bunt.

In 2012, both Short and Grayson would turn it up a notch at UCLA against Crosstown League foe Harbor Teacher Prep of Wilmington.

With the game scoreless in the bottom of the fifth inning, Short led off with a walk, then stole second. On the very next pitch after the steal, Grayson blasted a triple down the right field line to drive home Short to start a two-run breakout for the Polar Bears in that inning, and during a four-run sixth inning, Short hit an RBI-single, and Grayson would crush a towering double. Both would score later that inning.

That wouldn't be all for Short because even before that game, she had a more significant hit that reverberated over all of the city of San Pedro.

In the first round of the El Segundo Tournament facing a 1-and-1 count against in-city neighbor San Pedro, an already well-established program, Short would drill a walk-off single to provide the Polar Bears a 6-5 victory (ending in six innings due to the tournament time limit), their first win over the Pirates in any sport on the varsity level. Now ALL of San Pedro knew who POLA softball was on April 28, 2012 when that hit occurred.

POLA is having perhaps their best season in school history, and the season hasn't even ended yet. Don't expect Short and Grayson to have it end on Tuesday.

Short is currently hitting .410 with five homers and 29 RBIs for a team that appears loaded at the plate despite missing  eight games with a bruised foot, and one of those games she missed, was the Polar Bears' 4-3 victory over another Marine League power, Banning of Wilmington in the El Segundo Tournament quarterfinals nearly a year after their monumental win over San Pedro.

In the Spring Jamboree Tournament in Las Vegas, Short crushed a game-opening homer on the third pitch she saw against Nevada powerhouse Centennial of Las Vegas. Grayson's bat was slow in progressing earlier in the season but has since picked it up with a .338 batting average with two homers and 30 RBIs.

Defensively, Grayson has caught seven out of 13 batters stealing for a 53.8% rate, and Short is a slick-fielding shortstop with 25 assists opposed to just five errors, even turning a sparkling unassisted double play against King of Riverside in the Torrance National Tournament, snaring a line drive then firing to first base to double off a runner to send a scoreless game into extra innings.

Short and Grayson's performance under pressure should carry on until the season finally ends... and the Polar Bears are settling for nothing less than a return trip to the Division III finals on Saturday.