Keep it up, IVC
If you’ve followed this newspaper at all lately and specifically the sports section, you may have seen an uptick in the amount of coverage of the Imperial Valley College softball program.
There’s a reason for that.
Last season, the Arabs had one of their most successful seasons in the college’s history going 19-8 overall and 10-6 in Pacific Coast Athletic Conference play.
The Arabs also earned PCAC Player of the Year honors in Maritza Rojas, while Claudia Gasca was named to the all-conference first team.
Also in 2017, Melannie Ibarra nabbed second team honors and Celeste Bernal was an honorable mention.
Of that group, Ibarra was the only Arab to return to the roster this season as Rojas transferred and Gasca and Bernal concluded their junior collegiate careers.
With five games left in the regular season, Ibarra has already helped IVC to an overall record of 22-6 and conference record of 9-2.
She hasn’t done it alone, however, as IVC boasts a roster full of well-rounded talent this season.
In the conference’s eight batting and pitching statistics, the Arabs have a least one player in six of the categories with Ibarra appearing on two.
The sophomore outfielder has the third best batting average in the conference (.494) and leads in stolen bases with 17 and that’s after sitting out a few games due to a knee injury.
Joining Ibarra in the batting average category is freshman Priscilla Silva, who takes the No. 5 spot with a .469 average.
IVC also has two players on the RBI list with Skyler Tyson’s 33 and Gabby Ramirez’s 30 coming in at the fourth and fifth best in the PCAC, respectively.
In the circle, IVC sophomores Sinclaire Mays and Jalyn McClain have combined to produce IVC another winning season.
Mays has the third best ERA in the conference (1.99), while McClain has the fourth (2.14). McClain has the third most wins with 11, and Mays has the fourth-most strikeouts with 62.