By Stephanie Guevara
The softball team recorded its third consecutive loss, 7-2, at home against Antelope Valley College last Wednesday. East Los Angeles College started strong in the first inning as starting sophomore pitcher Griselda Vazquez hit a solo home run.
“Finally I hit it over. I’ve been working really hard for this and I’ve been putting extra work,” Vazquez said.
The Huskies struggled to get hits off of AVC starting pitcher Morgan Arndt. ELAC head coach Erika Blanco said the team had a hard time at bat because they were swinging at wrong pitches. “We are definitely not hitting to our potential.
Our quality of at bats are not as good as we have been,” Blanco said. The Huskies defense also fell short in key moments. The opposition had two players on second and third base as AVC catcher Sally Miramontes hit a ball deep that ELAC freshman left fielder Natalie Acosta couldn’t catch and allowed two players to score. AVC went up 5-1 in the scoreboard.
ELAC was at its weakest in the third inning allowing three runs, the most allowed in one inning.
The Huskies made a slight comeback in the fourth inning. ELAC sophomore first baseman Andrea Rocha hit a triple to right field putting ELAC back in the game.
Freshman second baseman Samantha Alvarado, a late switch as a pitcher, hit a single that would bring Rocha home for a run. In that same inning, AVC hit a deep high fly ball to center field that almost went over the fence, but ELAC freshman center fielder Nicole Zamora caught it. “It is always a battle with ELAC.
They always come to play and coach Blanco does a great job with them. We know we always have to come with our A game,” AVC head coach Cindy Vargas said.
ELAC tried to surprise AVC once again, but went back to swinging at wrong pitches. “We need to work on not swinging at bad pitches, keeping our swing level and staying positive at bat,” Vazquez said.
AVC pitcher Arndt got a couple of hits off of Vazquez that resulted in two of the seven runs. “We had a really good game. ELAC is a really good team. They have hitters, but my teammates came out really well,” Arndt said.
In comparison to previous games, the Huskies came out to fight until the end according to Blanco. “Our goal was to not give up and keep on battling. In the last couple games, the girls got frustrated and they would kind of quit in the middle of the game and they would play out of their potential,” Blanco said.
The Huskies ended their losing streak on the road to El Camino Compton Center and won 14-2 on Thursday