For the first time in nearly two years, Delta’s softball team springs back into action on the field for CCCAA competition.
This spring the team expects to compete in its first full season since 2019 after there was no competition in 2021 and the 2020 season came to an early end due to the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic in March of that same year.
The softball team is excited for what’s to come as the 2022 season gets underway.
“It’s nice just to compete,” Delta Head Coach Jim Fisher said. “It’s nice to go out and see how we do because we’ve been intersquadding and playing with each other for the last year and a half.”
The Mustangs opened the season on Friday, Feb. 4 with wins against College of the Sequoias and Cabrillo respectively.
Several players from the last two seasons are returning this year, including sophomores Mikaela Ferreira and Cheyenne Washington, whom together in 2020 accounted for 51 runs and 51 runs batted in. In total, the two sophomores were involved in 102 of the 163 times the Mustangs got on the scoreboard.
They were also a part of the 2019 squad that reached the Final Four in the state championship tournament, with Ferreira finishing the season having the fourth highest batting average in the state (.539).
Regardless of the results, the players are excited about taking the field once again.
“It’s fantastic. Not being able to play last season and coming back, I think we’re all very excited and anxious to get back on the field,” said Ferreira.
This year the Mustangs will take on the season with a predominately freshman roster.
As one the few returning sophomores on the squad, Ferreira has been designated as co-captain of the team alongside Washington.
While Ferreira does recognize this as a big responsibility to take on for the team, she enjoys the idea of being someone who sets examples for her younger teammates.
“There is a little bit of pressure because you have to show girls how we play at Delta, but it’s fun having others look up to you,” said Ferreira.
Following suspension of the 2020 season, the Mustangs culminated with an overall 14-7 and were in the middle of battling for a spot in the postseason as they sat in fourth place with a 4-4 record in the Big 8.
Now with many new faces the Mustangs seek to return to the field to equalize, if not surpass what was accomplished before the pandemic forced all play on the community college level to cease.
The Mustangs initiate Big 8 play on Feb. 26 when the team will host Santa Rosa College in a double header.