The Aragon varsity softball team (5-8 overall, 3-3 Peninsula-Bay)* defeated San Mateo (2-8 overall, 1-4 Peninsula-Bay)* in a much needed 6-2 win.
“We just had two wins in a row so we’re hoping to keep rolling on,” said head coach Liz Roscoe. “We know it’ll be tough but we’re hoping to continue winning.”
The Dons fell in an early 2-1 hole going into the bottom of the third inning but broke the game open with a four-run inning where junior catcher Caroline Harger had an RBI double and senior first baseman Kendall Makuta had a two-run double to the right field.
“We were very hyped up and every time we [string] together a few hits or get runners on base, we get very excited,” said senior pitcher Brooke Tran. “We really depend on those breakthroughs during those rallies.”
A major reason for the Dons keeping the game close was a masterful pitching performance from Tran, who only allowed two runs and had seven strikeouts in a complete game. In spite of having a deep bag of pitching tricks, Tran relied on her fastball and curve throughout much of the game to get her out of tight spots.
“From the first inning, we saw that the change-up was getting hit harder than we would like to so we decided to rely more on the rise ball and we were testing out a … backdoor curve[ball],” Tran said.
Despite a slow start, the Dons constantly cheered on their teammates from the dugouts and shouting encouraging words.
“This team has positive energy with each other and … we do work on them all being positive,” Roscoe said.
The Dons tacked on another run during the bottom of the fourth inning when Harger hit an RBI single with the bases loaded and Tran closed the game out in the top of the seventh with a quick nine pitch inning.
The Dons believe their combination of youth and experience will propel them toward a strong close to their season.
“We have a few seniors on the team and we all step up and help the underclassmen,” Makuta said. “We [hope] everybody has a job to do and … can do their job while having a good time.”
Looking forward, the team has their next home game on April 25 against Capuchino (13-3 overall, 5-1 Peninsula-Bay)* at 4 p.m.
*Records as of April 17
