On Tuesday, March 8, the Bonita Vista High (BVH) varsity softball team lost to Mission Hills High School (MHHS) with a score of 3-6. BVH played a home game against MHHS, and “held our ground” despite having a very young team. 

“It was a pretty important game,” Pitcher and senior Giulianna Clavel said. “I think if we would have won, we would have definitely been bumped up [in ranking out of county] because our stats are almost the same.”

So far, both teams have played about eight to nine games this season. Prior to this game, both teams share similar stats according to MaxPreps, as BVH has 7-2, while MHHS has 7-1. Seeing as the only difference between the stats is that BVH has played one more game.

“We prepared for specific pitches [screw and curve balls], and also for the velocity that she [MHHS pitcher] possesses. We try to work on being faster to the ball,” varsity softball Head Coach, Alejandro Jordan said. “I think that we were better prepared [this game]. Last time we saw her, she was more dominant.” MHHS’ pitcher is a “high quality dominant senior pitcher” who is committed to Fullerton college, so BVH made sure to prepare for her pitches.

The first inning began with lots of cheering from both sidelines towards the pitcher and the batter as MHHS plays offense. The first out was by Clavel who struck out the leadoff batter. The last two outs were caught in left and center field. BVH is now up to bat, starting with Shortstop and sophomore Irie Iapala who got the first out as it was hit to third and thrown to first. Second at bat of the inning, Third Baseman and sophomore, Alexis Jimenez is at a full count. The pitch is thrown, and she hits it to the bottom of the fence in the outfield, making it to second base. She then proceeds to steal third, Jimenez scores the first run as her teammate, Catcher and junior, Sofia Barbosa hits it past second base. Ending the first inning with a score of 1-0. 

“I felt great [scoring the first run], I was screaming my head off when I had a double. I knew the pitcher from last year so I was ready for her pitches, and I was ready to go,” Jimenez said.

In the second inning, MHHS starts with a single. The second to bat bunts the ball, BVH catches it and throws to first getting the first out, while the base runner advances to second. MHHS gets a walk, now with base runners at first and second. The ball is hit to center field, loading up the bases. Another hit to center field, scoring their first run (1-1). There’s a pop-up to third base, Jimenez catches it, getting the second out. Bases remain loaded as a walk forces a fun for MHHS. Then, a strikeout by Clavel ends the top of the second inning. BVH up to bat now, as a pop-up wasn’t caught by defense and batter made it to first. Clavel hits to center field and runs to first, while the base runner advances to second. Ground ball to the third baseman making a double play at second and third with two outs. A strikeout brings the end of the second inning to a score of 1-2, MHHS on top.

The third inning is short as there are no new runs from either team. While BVH plays defense, MHHS gets two strikeouts and a flyout—when the defense catches the ball before it hits the ground.

It’s now the fourth inning when the ball is hit near the pitcher and thrown to first getting the first out; second out from a strikeout. There’s a pop-up hit behind the catcher, and she took her helmet off then tried to catch it, but the ball fell out of her glove. 

“These [pop-ups] are plays that we expect to make, [and] are called routine plays. We missed a total of five routine plays in that game which ultimately cost us a total of five runs,” Jordan said. “So if you take away those routine errors that we should have made, it’s a different ball game. That [not catching the pop-up in the fourth inning] was just one of the many frustrating moments for us defensively.”

The top of the fourth inning ends with a strikeout. BVH is now on offense, First Baseman and junior, Makayla Veglia gets a hit and makes it to first base. BVH’s dugout begins cheering louder as Barbosa has 2 strikes and one ball. She hits the next ball to center field, and the base runner is out at second while Barbosa makes it to first. BVH has their second out from a flyball to left field. Clavel’s up to bat and hits a foul ball to left field, eventually striking out as the score remains the same, 1-2.

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Madelyn Omelina

During the intense game between BVH and MHH, shortstop and sophomore Irie Iapala gets the ground ball cleanly. Then proceeds to get the out by throwing the ball to first basemen and junior Makayla Veglia at first base.

“I love the energy, it’s needed. It’s what carries the game. It keeps the vibes good. [Motivational cheering and chants] gets [the team] more into the game and we play better,” Clavel said.

Now in the fifth inning, MHHS’ first out was from a bunt that was sent to first before the batter. The second was when the batter had full count and Clavel threw one last strike, getting the second and third outs as both strikeouts. BVH is now up to bat, outfielder and freshmen, Anaissa Del Rio reaches first base after an error by the shortstop. Second Baseman, Shortstop and sophomore Alexis Acosta hit a foul ball to the outfield, then gets a walk. With two on base, Iapala then hits to left-center field. Letting Del Rio score the second run, while Acosta behind her, cuts it close getting the third run as MHHS overthrows to home plate. With those two runs, they tie the game 3-3. The dugout and stands yell and cheer on Iapala, Del Rio and Acosta. The fifth inning remains a tie as Jimenez strikes out and MHHS catches a pop-up.

“I was waiting for someone to step up [when the score was 1-3]. It was good to see Irie Iapala step up in that moment, and helped her team with a huge hit and score some runs [tieing 3-3],” Jordan said “I felt good about it. But I felt like this is what’s going to need to happen in order to compete with the caliber of teams.”

Inning six begins, striking out two players and catching a hit to third. BVH is now on offense, Barbosa hits to left field and MHHS’ left fielder catches it. The second out from a foul ball as MHHS’ catcher, catches it. Clavel at bat, hitting the ball to the top part of the fencing, her teammates began loudly cheering, thinking it was a home run. She ran believing it was a home run, when it wasn’t the softball barely bounced back onto the field. 

“I thought I just hit a home run and we were tied [for it felt like] the whole game, and if I just broke the tie, you know? I thought I hit it over,” Clavel said. “I’ve come so close, so many times this season. It’s been getting me so mad. I love that I got the hit, but it ended up not counting.” Continuing the remainder of the sixth inning in a tie, MHHS got the third out from a ground ball, throwing it to first.

The final inning starts with a walk for MHHS, the base runner on first was close to an out when the ball got thrown to first base and it dropped out of the first baseman’s glove. The ball is then hit to left-center field with two on base. The batter hits it between third base and the pitcher’s mound, BVH gets the first out as it was thrown to first. Meanwhile, the base runners advance to second and third. The next player at bat hits to shortstop making it to first, and the shortstop attempts to prevent the base runner at third from scoring but fails as it’s overthrown to home plate. The score is now 3-4 when the base runner at first base attempts to steal second but gets caught in a pickle—when a base runner is in the area between two bases and has two basemen on either side, trying to not get out—eventually making it to second. The base runner at second runs and gets on third. Base runner at third scores 3-6 after the ball is hit to centerfield. The ball was hit to the second baseman and BVH ends the top of the seventh with 3-6 from a double play at first and second. 

BVH is now on offense, Del Rio hits a pop-up to left field, and MHHS catches, resulting in the first out. Acosta then hits a pop-up to shortstop which was also caught. Iapala hit to center field, making it to second base. Next up is Jimenez, who has a full count, the pitcher relaxes by breathing in and throws the pitch, getting a walk. Two on base as Veglia strikes out, ending the game with 3-6. 

“From the sidelines I feel like a very confident person. I could tell that I was in the pitcher’s head, and my teammates were in the pitcher’s head by getting loud and screaming,” Jimenez said.