Los Banos softball gloves Central California Conference major awards

LOS BANOS -- The exchange of wedding vows.

The birth of their children.

Four years of coaching together, side by side in the same dugout.

And now, at long last, the Pikases can add this to their family mantle: an undefeated run to a conference championship.

This Los Banos softball team will always hold a special place in the household of Amy and Charlie Pikas.

They were the first.

In 14 combined seasons of coaching varsity softball, neither Amy nor Charlie had ever won a league championship while going undefeated.

Until this spring.

Los Banos went 12-0 to earn the Central California Conference's top seed in Saturday's start of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I playoffs at the Sacramento Softball Complex.

LB opens with Napa, while conference runnerup Merced takes on Johansen.

"They really wanted to go 12-0. They wanted that pressure," Charlie said. "Going undefeated in league is pretty special. They wanted it and accepted that pressure before every game."

Their efforts were rewarded recently at the coaches meeting. Los Banos won a piece of three major individual awards and had seven players named to the all-CCC first and second teams.

Amy and Charlie shared Coach of the Year honors for the second time in their respective careers.

Taylor Mendez repeated as the conference's Offensive Player of the Year and pitcher Kelsie Monroe shared MVP honors with Merced's Lindsi Cosyns.

Amy and Charlie were named the Valley Oak League's top skippers in 2002, while Charlie was at West High and Amy was in her first season at Los Banos.

"It's interesting with the way things are working," Charlie said. "Our first year of varsity ball we get it, and now this year again.

"It means a lot, because we put in a lot of time with this group of kids the last three years."

For some, it goes back farther than that.

When Charlie joined Amy in Los Banos four years ago, the Pikases took notice of a nucleus of players at the junior high level.

In that bunch was Monroe, a seventh grader just learning to pitch; a late-bloomer by softball's strict standards.

The Pikases helped accelerate the learning curve for this group by forming Tiger Softball, a summer traveling team.

Quickily, Monroe blossomed into a star inside the chalked circle.

The senior was 15-11 this season with 215 strikeouts in 167-plus innings with a 1.92 ERA.

"She's gone from picking up the ball and pitching for her first time four years ago to league MVP," Charlie said. "That says a lot about her drive and dedication to pitching.

"I've never had a pitcher that wasn't a pitcher growing up. It's kind of neat to see."

Cosyns was another shining example of a grinder, gutting out victories with location rather than a set of swing-and-miss strikeout pitches.

The senior was a dual threat, pacing the conference in ERA (0.86) and RBIs (17).

"She had a great year. She hit for us when we needed it and she pitched well for us," Merced coach Bart McAfee said. "I don't know what our expectations were (coming into the season). We were trying to to do the best we could and we told her she needed to throw a bunch of strikes. She did and that's why we were so successful

"I think Lindsi would be the first to say this was a team award, because they did a great job behind her defensively. She appreciates what her team has done for her. But she came up with some big hits, couple of game-winning hits, couple of home runs."

She was 10-7 with just 45 strikeouts. What she lacked in explosiveness on the rubber, she made up for with her bat.

Cosyns hit .329 with two home runs.

The only slugger more feared was Mendez.

Just a sophomore, Mendez won her second consecutive Offensive Player of the Year award despite a slow start to the season.

Mendez was injured in the third inning of Los Banos' season opener and missed the next 10 games.

She returned for the start of CCC play -- just in time to feast on local pitching.

Mendez batted .413 with 10 runs and 12 RBI. Of her 19 hits, eight were for extra bases: five doubles and three home runs.

She led the conference in batting average, home runs and slugging percentage.

"We figured they might be pretty special," Charlie said of his team. "So we kept them together every summer since. You get some new pieces here and there, like Taylor last year. And when you get them all where they need to be, it can turn into a pretty special year like this one."

James Burns is managing editor/sports editor of the Sun-Star. He can be reached at jburns@mercedsun-star.com.