Softball players settle in on their season and aim for another CCS appearance

Courtesy of Bryan Zhao

Saira Ramakrishnan pitching at the March 6 game against Leland

Head Coach: Mike Davey

Last year’s record: 9-3 

Recap: The team finished third in the El Camino division and advanced to CCS, where they lost in the first round.

Key Matchups: Cupertino and Gunn

Star Players: Juniors pitcher Saira Ramakrishnan and shortstop Sydney Riera

Key losses to graduation: first baseman Lily Guzman and catcher Irene Fraizer

Prognosis:

With a similar roster following a CSS qualification from last year, the softball team is hoping to repeat that success again this year. 

Early in the year, the team was impacted by junior pitcher Saira Ramakrishnan’s knee injury she suffered during a basketball game on Feb. 9 as she was going for a rebound. She was taken off the court for the remaining few basketball games and couldn’t pitch for a few weeks. 

As for Ramakrishnan, she said the freshmen on the team have helped inspire her. 

“The new freshmen have really helped us and stepped up a lot. Freshmen Alayna Eva Cleland and Alaina Retamoso are our new shortstops,” Ramakrishnan said. “Alaina is a backup pitcher, so she will be pitching a little bit more and kind of help ease the load for me.” 

Ramakrishnan, who has been playing softball for 10 years, is looking for a future playing softball in college. She hopes to get recruited this summer. 

 Luckily, through rehab and physical therapy, her time on the softball field was barely impacted. Ramakrishnan is slowly recovering, and has been pitching through her injury during the last few games. 

Besides her injury, this upcoming season is bright for the team, as the new freshmen are adapting well. 

“The team dynamic is great, the freshmen are awesome and everyone is getting along so well,” junior shortstop Sydney Rivera said.