The Westchester softball team battled through injuries late in the regular season, battling in a tough Western League.
"Our league is hard and I felt by playing top competition in league, prepared us for the playoffs," Westchester coach Justin Cohen said. "Coming out of that, we felt prepared."
The Comets' L.A. City Section Division IV playoff journey ended Friday with a 12-9 win over LACES at Birmingham Charter in the championship game.
It's the first championship for the Comets since 1998. It was their first championship game appearance since losing in the Division II final in 2014 to Sylmar (1-0).
"We dealt with injuries to our pitcher Laylah Ali, she wasn't able to pitch for a few games and she's one of the top pitchers in the league," Cohen said. "Our catcher (Tyler Giddens) dealt with injuries."
The Comets opened the playoffs with a 21-6 win over Animo Bunche. After a second-round forfeit win, the Comets defeated Reseda (13-3) to advance to the finals.
The offense continued Friday. Raine Green, Eviyah Johnson, Milani Jones and Ali had two hits apiece. Green, Johnson and Ali had three RBIs each, with Ali's coming on a bases-clearing double.
"All that was going through my mind was that i could not let my team down and I have to win for these girls especially Raine (Green)," Ali said.
Green is the lone senior on the Comets' roster.
In the pitcher's circle, Ali recorded eight strikeouts.
"The key to our team success this season was definitely uplifting each other," Green said. "Once we roar in the dugout everyone stays alive. Everyone hits well and once one person does good we keep that momentum going."
This is the fourth city title for the Comets, with their first two coming back-to-back in 1983 and 1984.
This is Cohen's 13th year as coach at Westchester.
"Our team is mostly made up of 10th and 11th graders, we have a lot of players who picked up the sport later on. Some came up from JV last year and they have one year of experience. They wanted to be better and good at something they could be proud of and with their drive and work ethic, this is all them.
"This is an amazing group of young women, who have tried hard to be their best and be the best they can be and all that's all we can ask for."
Division I
Legacy 4, Port of Los Angeles 0: The Polar Bears (19-4) came up short in their championship attempt, losing to the Tigers Saturday at CS Northridge.
POLA managed just three hits. Alyssa Setka went the distance and allowed four unearned runs and struck out six.