Softball takes loss against San Mateo Bulldogs

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Delta College played a closely matched softball game against San Mateo on April 6, which ended in a 1-0 win for College of San Mateo.  

“The one run they scored in the first inning held the whole game,” Delta Head Coach Jim Fisher said. “It was good competition, a great game to watch, I think…it’s just tough to come out the losing end.”

A robust performance from Delta’s starting pitcher Delaney Pamplin helped hold the San Mateo Bulldogs to a single run.   

“After the first couple of hitters we started to adjust our competitive level and from then on, she pitched great,” said Jim Fisher. “Most balls hit hard are mistakes, and she didn’t make many today; she did a great job.”

San Mateo is the No. 1 team in Northern California, and Delta is ranked No.  2, and the teams’ skills were so closely matched, the game made for a compelling contest for fans in the stands.   

“I think we played a really great game,” Pamplin said. “It was definitely the toughest team we’ve played and we definitely put a great effort in doing what we did the whole game and playing our hardest throughout, from the first inning through the last.”

The game was sprinkled with missed opportunities for Delta. The Mustangs got runners on bases in five innings, but the team was  unable to cinch the momentum with home runs.

This helped prompt Fisher to wave Ashley Duval past second with one out in the seventh inning to try to stretch a double into a triple.

It was a close call that didn’t end in Duval’s favor.  

“I thought our team played well,” Fisher said. “Sometimes, you just get beat. That’s what happened today.”

This game served as a teaching lesson on how Delta can improve against other top-ranked teams like San Mateo in upcoming games.  

“It’s difficult when you’re competing against a great team with a pitchers who’s hitting their spots, and you have to have a good at bat. And that was the difference, we didn’t do that,” said Fisher. “And that’s something that hopefully we can grow from and so next time it comes around, we’ll be more mature and more developed and with our mindset really be able to control those things. So that’s the big takeaway, that there are things to work on, and we will.”