Leila El Sabbagh
Sports Editor
The Leopards’ softball team was unable to make it past their rival, the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens, for their first matchup of the season, losing 5-1 on April 11 at Campus West.
La Verne struggled to get runs on the board until the fifth inning where sophomore second baseman Julia Miramontes hit a single to right field.
“I think we all wanted to find the energy and be able to sustain it,” head coach Danielle Kaminaka said. “It’s easy sometimes when you’re looking at a team who’s struggling to overlook them, but in every game confidence is huge.”
The Sagehens were consistently ready at all stages of the game with the first inning being no exception.
With two bases handed to them through a walk and hit-by-pitch, Pomona-Pitzer was able to load the bases with a two out single.
Sophomore designated player Brooke Bullis hit a grand slam to bring in four of the five runs for the Sagehens. She later drove in the fifth run on an RBI single, making her Pomona-Pitzer’s biggest weapon against the Leopards.
Senior starting pitcher Kirstin Sanchez gave up all five runs, however after the rough first few innings, she was able to keep the Sagehens shut down.
“Having my teammates cheer me on feels so good, it gets my heart pumping and flowing,” Sanchez said. “It picks me up and gets me ready to go.”
Freshman shortstop Mackenzie Johnson had another stellar game on the dirt. She is currently ranked No. 1 in overall fielding in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
“We talk to our pitchers a lot and just know that they need us and no matter what we’re always there,” Johnson said.
The Leopards struggled to get their bats going throughout the game with players like third and fourth spot batters, senior catcher Alyssa Campbell and senior center fielder Ashley Rodriguez, going hitless in all three of their at bats during the game.
“We can’t start low, we have to start up with the team we’re playing right now,” Campbell said. “They’re definitely not going to let it go easy so we need to stay in the game.”
Six runners for the Leopards were left on base, giving them plenty of opportunities to capitalize and punch back against the Sagehens. After the first inning, the Leopards were unable to gain any kind of traction leaving their energy flat with sparks of momentum which ultimately led to their one run game.
Heading into the sixth inning the Leopards looked to junior pitcher Jaidynn Alvarez to close the game out. Alvarez kept the momentum that Sanchez left and continued to keep the Sagehens to zero hits.
Although their performance was off, the team is looking to move on from this game and to dig deeper into themselves to push forward in conference play.
“We’re going to stay aggressive, I think we got a little away from that,” Kaminaka said. “Our defense was solid, our pitching came back and locked it down. Our goal is to be able to pass the bat to the next player and have them own it.”
La Verne’s record is now 15-13 overall with a record of 6-5 in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play. The Leopards will compete in their next three game series at 3 p.m. Friday against the Chapman Panthers in Orange, followed by a doubleheader at Campus West at noon Saturday.
Leila El Sabbagh can be reached at leila.elsabbagh@laverne.edu.
Leila El Sabbagh is the sports editor for the Campus Times. She is a sophomore journalism major with a concentration in broadcast journalism who aspires to be a sports broadcaster. She has previously served as a staff writer for the Campus Times.
Emily Casillas is a junior photography major with a concentration in sports photography. She is a staff photographer for both the Campus Times and La Verne Magazine, as well as La Verne Athletics. Her work can also be found at Shot2byEmily.
