Trailing 4-3 in the first inning, the Warriors’ bats came alive, scoring two runs in the second inning and exploding for four runs in the third on the strength of smart base running and timely hitting.

El Camino softball (2-1 overall, no conference matches played) recorded 13 hits on their way to a 12-4 win over visiting Golden West College (0-3 overall, no conference games played) in five innings on Tuesday.

“Being down early, I like the way the team responded,” coach Jessica Rapoza said. “We didn’t panic and just kept working on our offensive approach.”

In the bottom of the fourth inning, freshman left fielder Kattya Calderon led the inning with a triple over the right fielder’s head. Calderon scored on a ground-rule double to left field by freshman infielder Kammy Fisher, giving the Warriors an 11-4 lead.

“We played really well as a team and we did really good making contact with the ball,” Calderon said. “We’re a young team but I feel we have a lot of potential.”

Pitching got off to a shaky start but freshman pitcher Brooke Sarro came in the game, settled down and pitched three solid innings, giving up three hits, one run and recording the win.

“We have great chemistry,” Sarro said. “We did great as a team today and I think we are going to be amazing this season.”

The Warriors are back in action Wednesday when they travel to Cypress College for a 2:30 p.m. start time.

“The athletes are learning everyday and they are starting to trust the process of the way we play El Camino softball,” Rapoza said. “The more they trust the process, the more success they are going to have.”

The Warriors are 2-0 when the team scores runs through out the game, beating L.A. Valley, 7-4, and GWC, 12-4; but are 0-1 when the scoring hasn’t done much, losing at Saddleback 10-1 in five innings.