Arabs score fast in victory
IMPERIAL — While Wednesday afternoon wasn’t Imperial Valley College’s best outing on the softball field, the Arabs overcame a few mental miscues to defeat San Bernardino Valley College 10-2 here in Pacific Coast Athletic Conference action.
“We didn’t play to our full ability,” said IVC head coach Jill Lerno. “We have a great team and we have the ability to play great softball and be the best.”
Despite a few shaky plays, Lerno said overall she was happy the team’s offensive effort, which scored multiple runs through the first three innings of the game.
“We still had 12 hits and we started out fast, which we do a lot of times,” Lerno said. “We’re used to playing at a higher pace.”
The Arabs worked to bring in four runs in the first inning and two runs in the second to hold a 6-0 lead in the top of the third inning.
The Wolverines then connected for three hits to load the bases and worked to bring in two runs to narrow IVC’s advantage to 6-2.
Arab starter Maritza Rojas then worked to strikeout a SBVC batter to end the threat, with runners on first and third.
IVC entered the bottom of the third inning, similar to the first, and connected for three runs to jump to a 9-2 lead.
With Rojas on the mound, IVC worked to keep the Wolverines off the scoreboard for the remainder of the game and eventually scored the game-ending run in the bottom of the sixth.
“I think we just need to focus on staying up and staying in the game more,” said Rojas, whose record is now 9-3.
In the win, Rojas gave up just six hits and two earned runs, while recording 10 strikeouts.
Offensively, Rojas was 2-3 with two RBIs, while Rebeka Jimenez finished with two hits, a double and five RBIs.
Lerno noted that softball is not entirely physical and challenged her players to remain on their toes for today’s game at San Diego City.
“We faced them once before in a tournament and they’re a pretty scrappy team, so we definitely have to play better,” Lerno said.
The teams’ first meeting favored IVC 10-7 with today’s game marking the end of the first round of PCAC action.
“We’ve seen the pitchers and the batters, so we’ll have to make adjustments and just work on staying up,” said Rojas, who will also be on the mound today. “I just want to be the best leader out there so I can help my team out.”
Also for IVC, Melannie Ibarra went 3-4 with a triple and one RBI, Claudia Gasca went 2-4, Celeste Bernal went 2-4 with a double and Rebecca Silva went 1-2 with one run scored and two sacrifice bunts.
IVC improves to 13-5 on the season and 4-3 in PCAC action.