Cox Leads Quartz Hill to Title

Quartz Hill’s Jodie Cox neutralized one of the Southern Section’s best offensive teams, slugged a line-drive home run and gritted out some tense moments in the late innings to lead the Rebels to a 5-2 victory over Cerritos for the Division II softball championship Friday night at Mayfair Park in Lakewood.

“This was a dream to get here,” the junior left-hander said. “And to get a home run is not even believable. It just doesn’t happen.”

The fourth-seeded Dons (25-6) had defeated Mater Dei, the top-ranked team in the nation, Camarillo and defending Division II champion Woodbridge.

“Jodie is an awesome pitcher,” said shortstop Amber Slaton, whose bases-loaded single gave Quartz Hill (24-3-2) a 2-0 first-inning lead. “She deserves all the attention she gets. There are no words to describe Jodie Cox. She is wonderful.”

The rest of the Rebels weren’t so bad, either.

The team that entered the postseason unseeded, finished with victories over the second-, third- and fourth- seeded teams to become the first section softball champion from the Antelope Valley.

“This is going to take a while to sink in,” said co-Coach Coy Ray. “This feels absolutely great.”