By Charlyne Nguyen
The Lady Barons varsity softball team was defeated by Marina High School’s Vikings with a score of 7-13 on Monday, bringing their league score to 1-4.
It was a game filled with uneasy anticipation as the Vikings were dominating in the first inning with a score of 0-5.
But the Barons weren’t going to let Marina off that easily.
The Barons managed to make their first home run in the second inning, but with Marina’s lead by four points, the Barons had to figure out a way to overcome the distance.
Junior Brooke Bonny was able to hit the ball and reach second base, and with this, the Barons were able to gain some momentum.
Sophomore Abby Hasty and freshman Delanney Modino made two more home runs, changing the score to 3-6.
There were moments when the Barons weren’t able to make key catches that could’ve made a difference in-game due to lack of communication.
“I think we could’ve done better [in] the first six innings. We kind of gave up. And then we did better in the seventh inning when we started having fun and communicating” freshman Taylor Reynolds said.
In the fifth inning Marina gained their ultimate lead with a hard hit to center field, which gave Marina’s players on the second and third bases the opportunity to reach home.
The Marina player who hit to center and gave her teammates their home runs eventually made another home run for her team, making the score 3-12.
Despite some of the errors made, there were still some pivotal moments on the field that made a difference for the Barons.
Sophomore Lexia Martinez was able to take out some players coming in at first base with passes from the second base, which slowed down Marina’s progression
She also managed to catch a hit from one of Marina’s players that was flying midair near the first base area—helping her team gain the offensive.
Senior Avery Austin also made a near-impossible catch by diving headfirst in the right field area when the ball was mere seconds away from hitting the ground in the seventh inning.
It wasn’t exactly the outcome the Lady Barons wanted, but they were able to learn and grow from their mistakes.
“Softball is really reliant on being able to trust your teammates and fight even when you’re down, and we didn’t really see any of that until the last inning,” Austin said. “I feel that if we had been there to pick each other up and had the same energy as we did in the last inning throughout the whole game, the outcome would have been different.
