By Noe Ortega
Softball is on a two-game winning streak after defeating Chaffey College and Los Angeles Valley College 7-3 and 4-1 on Thursday and Friday, while yesterday’s game was cancelled due to rain.
The Huskies won their first conference game in South Coast Conference-North play against Chaffey on Thursday, making them 1-2 in the conference. “I’m really proud of the team. We bounced back after a couple tough games, but it’s a season and you can’t lose sight of it. I’m really proud that they regrouped and played well today,” said head coach Erika Blanco after Thursday’s game.
Freshman left fielder Destiny Avena led the team this weekend with three runs and an RBI. Freshman shortstop Mone’t Manning had two runs and an RBI this weekend. The Huskies never put their head down after Chaffey comeback.
“She ( B l a n c o ) j u s t told us to play like we usually play, the Husky way, talk it up, don’t get down on yourself, make sure you pick up the player next to you and make you sure you have everyone’s back,” said freshman shortstop Mone’t Manning.
The Huskies got off to a great start for Thursday’s game as they led 3-0 by the third inning and weren’t letting Chaffey attempt to get back in the game. Sophomore starting pitcher Griselda Vasquez threw for five innings before she was switched with freshman center-fielder Samantha Alvarado. Vasquez pitched a total of nine innings this weekend and got four strikeouts and allowing two runs.
Alvarado pitched a total of five innings and got five strikeouts. Blanco’s substitutions were a factor for the Huskies victories this weekend, as freshman pitcher Aaliyah Martinez came off the bench and hit three RBI’s.
“It’s something that we’ve had to practice and grow. When you have 14 freshman and that type of scenario gets thrown at you, things can get really tight, and there’s been games in the past that we haven’t been able to shut it down and score, but because we’ve been practicing and just really working on their mental game, they were able to close it out.”
ELAC will host Pasadena City College tomorrow in SCC-North play. ELAC has a record of 14-11 through 25 games, which is a better record than last year’s 9-17 after 25 games.