The Mustangs softball team battled Modesto Junior College on Saturday, March 31 at on the Pirates home turf. Starting the game off with a bang, the Mustangs scored seven runs at the top of the first inning.
“We came out really aggressive and wanted to get ahead of them early. I think we had good energy, and just stuck to our plan,” said Taylor Ward, second baseman.
“It’s always good to set the tone of how you’re going to be offensively, if you dictate the pace early then it sure is easier to get ahead,” said Head Coach Jim Fisher.
In the top of the third inning, No. 13 Makayla Altheide started it out by walking to first, then there were five successful hits to follow. With the bases loaded the team scored four runs, upping the score from 7-0 to 11-0.
“We have a really good hitting team. When we are on it we’re really on it. I’m proud of the girls for getting that big jump so I can kind of relax,” said pitcher Marissa Espinoza.
Espinoza has played for 10 years and says she is very competitive.
“I grew up with 3 younger siblings that are all taller than me. My family pushes us to be the best out of everyone, even if we’re not the best, we still push ourselves,” she said.
The Mustangs kept the pressure on, not allowing the Pirates to get very far each inning.
Making catch after catch and hurling the ball to first base, the team rarely let anyone get to the home plate.
No. 5 Grace Robles scored another run in the fourth.
At the bottom of the fourth the Mustangs let 4 Pirates players come up to bat, before getting them all out.
The Pirates ended up scoring one run in the fifth and the game ended after that instead of after the seventh, due to the significant gap in the score. The last inning wasn’t as successful for the Mustangs, but it wasn’t needed.
The final was 12-1.
Fisher said he is proud of the team’s performance.
“We started out the season poor. We were like 3-8 and we had to do a lot of learning. We had virtually all freshman on our team. We had to learn how to compete and from that start, we’ve turned it around and compete with people. Not saying we will win every game, but we compete. That’s all I can ask for,” he said.
There are a total of three Sophomores and 11 Freshman on the team.
“I really hope that my team and myself just continue to push each other to win, I think we can take it all,” said Espinoza.
The Mustang’s next game will be at home against Diablo Valley College on Saturday, April 7 at 12 p.m.