By Charlyne Nguyen
Softball beat their rivals, Marina High School Vikings, with a final score of 10-5 on Thursday.
Despite the Vikings trying to put pressure on the Barons when they scored the first run of the game in the first inning, the Barons were able to get ahead thanks to senior CJ Garcia and sophomore Veronica Moore both scoring two runs for the Barons, making the score 4-2 towards the end of the third inning.
Garcia was able to hit a ground ball in between the pitcher’s legs and into center field, and Moore was able to hit a home run towards left field, securing both her and Garcia’s runs.
“The game was a very good game. It was definitely a team win. We came out hitting from the very first inning, and I think everybody did their job,” Moore said.
The Vikings made some great efforts to gain back the upper hand with one of their players hitting a line drive to right field and running all the way to second base, and another player was able to steal third base in the fourth inning.
Senior Brooke Pace made terrific plays on defense with one particular save for the Barons when she was able to quickly grab a ground ball headed towards the right field and threw it to first, taking out the hitter, and thus preventing the Vikings from scoring any runs despite their loaded bases in the sixth inning.
The Barons’ performance both on offense and defense secured the team’s victory.
“I think we’re getting better every time we play. And today was one of our best wins, and our biggest team win. Everybody did what they were asked to do and it was a great way to beat our rival Marina today,” head coach Rick Aldrich said.
Marina’s defense stumbled a little in the sixth inning when one of their players wasn’t able to make a solid pass to the second, giving sophomore Abby Hasty, who replaced senior CJ Garcia at second, the opportunity to steal third. Hasty was able to also take home after her teammate senior Avery Austin went up at-bat.
Senior Samara Ortega was able to secure the Barons their last run of the game with a home run towards center field and over the blue softball shed.
“Our team’s performance was really good. We came out there to win and we did. And I expected everyone to do their job, so I was really proud of the outcome,” Ortega said.
