Rachel Garcia, the talented senior pitcher from Highland High in Palmdale, Calif. and a member of the Corona Angels – Tyson team, has a softball resume that’s unparalleled:

• UCLA signee
• invited as one of 17 to play for the Jr. National Team
• California Gatorade Player of the Year (as a sophomore!)
• ranked as one of the top 5 pitchers in the 2015 Hot 100 (No. 12 overall)
• preseason USA Today All-American this year (one of 20)
• ace of the Corona Angels team that won several top 2014 tournaments including TC/USA Nationals, Champions Cup and the Boulder Independence Day Tournament (Louisville) and finished 2^nd at PGF Nationals

 

… and now she can add to her list the most unlikely of all accomplishments: throwing a perfect game… and losing.

Rachel had been 61-11 heading into this year and she’s 17-2 in her senior campaign so when she does lose it’s a rarity, but it’s not like this was your normal “having-an-off-day” type of defeat.

A fireballer who throws in the high 60’s, she had 325 K’s in 156 innings as a junior and has 256 more in 113 innings this year and was on top of her game Saturday as her Highland Bulldogs faced Camarillo High in the Thousand Oaks tournament.

Rachel struck out 23 of the 24 batters she faced including the first 18 to start off the game.

“I was definitely on,” she told Full Count Softball last night. “My rise ball was working and I felt as good as I could.”

The only ball that was put into play was a ground-out to second.

But with the game tied 0-0 after seven innings, the International Tie Breaker was put into play and in the eight inning, with Camarillo’s Sara Stroud on second base, Garcia made her only mistake of the game—a wild pitch that allowed Stroud to sprint to third.

When the throw from the catcher sailed into left field, the winning run scored despite Camarillo not having had a hit, walk, or reach base through any other means except being planted on second as part of the ITB.

Technically, it was a perfect game… and a loss.

Rachel, of course, was discouraged with the loss for her team.

“I wouldn’t say I’m bummed,” she explained, “but it was hard to take in the way it went down. We only got two hits and as a team didn’t come through when it was needed offensively. The team as a whole didn’t get it done.”

So focused on winning, Rachel wasn’t aware of her statistic dominance.

“I didn’t even think about it until the game was over,” she stated. “I was happy with how I pitched, but in the end we lost and we need to learn from it, do better and move on.”

It may be tough for the outstanding pitcher to move on just yet. The attention the story has generated has snowballed across the nation.

“The phone’s been ringing off the hook,” Rachel marveled, “and it’s blown up on Twitter. I have random people mentioning me and talking about the rule and how strange it is. It’s unreal.”

The L.A. Daily News published the initial game story and writer Tony Cinaglio mentioned the game on his Twitter account. Eventually, national media including ESPNW and MaxPreps would recount the game story. At Full Count Softball, we first heard about the story Monday morning from a parent of a player on another team in the tournament.

“The story is everywhere and people are sending me links to articles,” Rachel’s mother, Christine, told us yesterday. “It’s crazy. It is what it is and Rachel seems to be in good spirits and always stays composed, but that’s her.”

It’s ironic that as successful as the All-American pitcher has been, the most attention she may get in her pre-college career is probably from a loss, but that’s the nature of sports—sometimes you can be perfect and it’s not quite good enough.

Still, like with a performance like Rachel’s last Saturday, it not only shows how fantastic she is in the circle, it makes her a sympathetic figure in that everyone can relate to: one doing their very best and still coming up short.

And it’s pretty likely that the next time she pitches a perfect game, she’ll win!

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*** The unsung hero of the game was tournament MVP Emily Orosco of Camarillo who allowed only two hits while striking out 16 to earn the victory. Kudos to her and hopefully she’ll get the attention she deserves from her great weekend performances.

*** Finally, noteworthy from the Thousand Oaks Tournament was the power display shown by Dos Pueblos (18-4) which finished 5^th in the event.

In the team’s final game, pitcher/infielder Veronica Gulvin, who has signed with Cal State Santa Barbara, and sophomore second baseman Siena Wagner each hit two home runs in a win over Pacifica of Oxnard.

In the previous game, junior outfielder Alison Milam also smashed two home runs giving the team eight round-trippers in their final two games.

— Brentt Eads, Executive Editor of Full Count Softball