The women’s softball team played a tough home game last Thursday losing to Oxnard’s Concords 5-2 with injuries sustained on both sides.

In the bottom of the first inning, position Nancy Pinedo hit a single and pitcher Brandy Morin was up to bat. When her ball was caught by the Concords, Pinedo dove back to first but landed directly on her shoulder and dislocated it.

She was quickly assisted and her shoulder was adjusted. This injury will leave Pinedo out of the game for the next two weeks. Even though she was injured early in the game, she knew it wouldn’t affect her team’s spirits.

“I thought we were a little bit down, but I knew we could do it,” Pinedo said.

Morin helped boost the team’s spirit with her double hit that eventually got a run home for the team, matching the score 1-1 in the bottom of the fourth.

“I was really glad we scored, it kept me in the game,” Morin said.

Janai Shaw, a pitcher for the Concords, suffered the other injury in the game. Shaw was hit in her shoulder by the ball as she dove for home base. This hit caused a lot of pain for Shaw since her shoulder had recently been operated on. Her dive for the home plate gave the Concords the first point of the game.

The teams stayed neck-to-neck until the top of the sixth inning when the Concords scored two runs, one as a home run, and then added another two runs in the last inning. Outfielder Arelly Alvarez scored the Vaqs another run by hitting a triple at the bottom of the last inning.

Coach Dave Wilder says the Vaqs this year are lead by some new players and feels confident that the team’s spirit will keep them going and provide the team with a good softball season.

“We have a really good team captain, she keeps the girls spirits up. She does a really good job of that.” Wilder said.

The Lady Vaqs’ next home game will be at 1 p.m. March 17 against Santa Monica City College.