After losing the last two games, the Vaquero softball team took the field on Thursday ready to put a “W” on their record against L.A. Mission College.
“Our goal was to come to the field, take care of business and go home,” said first baseman Cassandra Soto.
That is exactly what the Lady Vaqs did.
Soon after Myrna Gonzalez took the mound, the ladies put one out on the board. With the next batter making it onto base, Glendale softball executed a double play making it a quick top-of-the first inning.
In the bottom of the first, the Vaqs got two hits and left one on, ending the first inning with no score.
With an error in the infield at top of the second inning, Mission put a player on second base And on the next play, she advanced from second to third base.
The bottom of the second and top of the third were quick “1-2-3 innings” for Glendale and Mission.
The bottom of the third was a big inning for GCC. With runners on first base and second base, Vivian Topete hit a sacrifice fly leading the runners to advance to second and third. Taking advantage of trouble in the outfield for the Eagles, three runners scored for the Vaqueros.
“I think they played great. We all did our part,” said Soto. “We all hit, we all brought each other in, we all picked each other up and we played great defensively— everything went well.”
With one out and no one on base, Jocelyn Zavala hit a double. Teammate Jasmine Hernandez sacrificed her hit, moving Zavala into scoring position at third base. With two outs on the board, Soto hit a single and Zavala ran in, earning the Vaqueros a 4-0 lead.
In the top of the fourth inning, Glendale was chasing foul balls. Ari Rea reined one in, retaining the lead for Glendale.
Cassidy Clark led with a single in the bottom of the fourth. Clark advanced to second base off of a wild pitch. With two runners on base, Kelsie Ange hammered the ball, bringing three runners home.
Now with a 7-0 lead for the Vaqueros, Topete hit a double causing Mission to call for a pitching change. Topete advanced to third base off another wild pitch. Rea walked then proceeded to steal second. With runners on second base and third base, Hernandez walked as well.
With the bases loaded, Soto stepped up to the plate and hit the ball far into the outfield. Mission struggled to get to the ball quick enough, but Glendale now had an 11-0 lead.
The chants and cheers got louder from the opposing dugout as the top of the fifth inning came around. With two errors defensively, Mission had runners on second and third base. With two outs on the board, the Eagles scored their first run. They brought another runner home with a double, ending the game with a score of 11-2.
