Softball team makes comeback after last year’s subpar season

The softball team is making a comeback from its last 5-17 season and is proving to be formidable competition in the El Camino league. 

The Falcons played their rival Gunn in a close game on March 27 and won 2-1. As of March 28, the team was 3-0 in the league and 12-3 overall.

“The pitcher we faced was the best one we have seen yet and probably the best in our league,” Bowker said.  “What really helped us win was our aggressive base running. They scored first but we came back in the inning after that and scored two to keep the lead.”

Prior to playing Gunn, the girls won 8-5 against Scotts Valley on March 25 and 14-3 against Mountain View on March 22. 

“I thought the game [against Mountain View] went pretty well,” junior third baseman Hera Tang said. “Defense and hitting were pretty solid overall. We were also able to string hits together and didn’t strand too many runners.” 

Prior to the game against Mountain View, the Falcons won 5-0 against Prospect in a non-league game on March 19. 

“We went into that game not very excited about it because Prospect usually beats us, but then we realized that they weren’t very good anymore,” junior left fielder Tivoli Sisco said. “We came in with a negative attitude, but we got better and played good defense and did a good job.” 

The team is hoping to beat its longtime rivals Gunn, Milpitas and Los Gatos and is aiming to move up from the El Camino league to the De Anza league next year; however, the team has some weaknesses to resolve before reaching its goals. 

“We have a lot of strengths compared to last year,” Sisco said. “We’ve got a lot more girls, we can hit really well and we have good defense, so we don’t make very many errors. Sometimes we get down on ourselves if we are losing, which just makes it worse so that’s definitely a weakness.” 

Freshman shortstop Eleni Spirakus is proving to be a rising star on the team.

“She is a smart batter and has a wide fielding range at shortstop, which is really important,” Bowker said. “She has also been consistent since the beginning of the season.”

The main pitchers are Tang, Spirakus and junior Analisa Ruff. This season, Ruff has worked hard to keep the pressure off of defense during defense. 

“She’s been doing really well this year, she hits her spots and rarely gives up base hits or walks so it takes a lot of pressure off of defense,” Bowker said. 

The team will play Fremont today.