The sun was slowly descending in the bottom of the fifth inning as sophomore pitcher Reina Trejo walked up to the plate. She looks out onto the field, the bases are loaded and the crowd shouts, “Here we go El Co, here we go.”
Trejo steps into the batter’s box, the pitcher throws the ball and Trejo connects her bat with the ball, landing a single to right-center field. The cheers erupt from the stands as sophomore shortstop Tori Garcia races from third to score, followed by sophomore center fielder Kirsten Romero.
It was an all-out battle as the softball team faced Mount San Antonio College (Mt. SAC) in their first match up of the season. The Warriors had a rough start the first couple of innings. After being down 7-0, the Warriors battled back to defeat the Mt. SAC Mounties 12-9.
“We were swinging at a lot of bad pitches in the beginning of the game and that makes it easy for other teams to get us out,” coach Jessica Rapoza said. “So I told them if we swing at strikes we will win this game.”
EC started to gain momentum in the bottom of the fourth inning when sophomore first baseman Jacqueline Gonzalez grounded out to second base, advancing sophomore third baseman Danielle Bonsky to second. Trejo went to third and sophomore catcher Gabby Fordiani ran home to score.
The fans also got into the game and began cheering on the Warriors and reviving their energy.
“I think [the cheering] helped us, the energy transferred from us to them and them to us,” freshman designated hitter Arleen Alvarez said. “Their energy helped us throughout the game.”
The Warriors had a big fifth inning, scoring 11 runs and taking the lead from the Mounties. Fordiani and Trejo had three RBIs, while Gonzalez and Alvarez both earned two each.
“In the meeting before we go into the dugout coach (Rapoza) said, ‘we have to do it now. We can’t wait till the seventh inning,’ so I think that kind of pushed us,” freshman pitcher Sierra Gabriel said. “We found the energy, pushed, and got it.”
The Warriors worked as a team and played aggressively. The Mounties scored two more runs, but it wasn’t enough to take away the Warriors’ lead.
“I have competitors and I have kids that will play as a team,” Rapoza said. “They will do anything that has to be done in order for the team to win and I just think that is so vital and that makes us such a force to be reckoned with because, we are not individuals we are one team going towards one goal.”
EC is now in first place in their conference with a record of 13-1. The Warriors’ next game is an away game against Pasadena City College at 2 p.m.
“We knew first place was on the line,” Alvarez said. “We just went out there after we were down (and) we knew we had to beat them.”
For more stories on the softball team go to eccunion.com
