Pirates excited for season
Host Gavilan at 12 and 2 p.m. Friday
A nearly all-freshmen team usually has the tendency to worry a head coach, but when it comes to the Porterville College Pirates softball team there’s nothing but excitement buzzing from Vickie Dugan.
Most of last season’s freshmen that didn’t return were from out of state and had financial issues that made it difficult to return, according to Dugan. But in her 21st season as head coach, Dugan couldn’t remember the last time she had a lineup this young.
“It’s exciting because they’re [almost] all freshmen,” Dugan said. “I have basically two years with the same infield. To think that you can have two years in a row with the same ones. They’re just going to get better as they play more and more with each other.”
Unlike last season when they didn’t pick up a win until their ninth game, the Lady Pirates (2-0) opened strong on the road with dominating 18-1 and 20-1 five-inning wins over Victor Valley on Jan. 27. PC hopes to extend their win streak Friday when they host Gavilan (1-3) in a doubleheader for their season home-opener. Games are scheduled for 12 and 2 p.m.
“To see them play — and we’ve struggled against teams that were of less ability than us last year because we wouldn’t hit those slow pitchers and we should’ve been all over them and we weren’t,” Dugan said. “And to see this team be all over them like they should’ve been — and nothing against Victor Valley, they’ve struggled with their program — but to see us play our game was exciting to see.“
On the transition from high school to college softball, second baseman Raquel Gonzalez from Lindsay said she’s having fun and the team’s first outing went surprisingly well.
“It’s a whole different game,” Gonzalez said. “It’s faster, it’s fun. It’s been good. We all really did good [against Victor Valley]. It was surprising how good we did.”
Former Monache star slugger Chelsea Ramos went 6-for-7 against Victor Valley and led the team with eight runs scored as well as eight RBIS. Dugan said that along with lone sophomore Julianne Huerta, Ramos already has emerged as one of the leaders on the team.
“She’s stepping up as a leader,” Dugan said. “Not only is she doing it vocally, she’s doing it by how she plays and with her bat…so we’ve got some freshmen that are stepping up and Jules is taking the leadership role, too. She’s out there by herself as a sophomore, but I do have some strong freshmen.”
Along with Gonzalez, Huerta at catcher and Ramos at third, shortstop Shantae Gutierrez and first baseman Emma Poll make up a “strong” infield Dugan is thrilled to see in action.
“I think we have a really good infield,” Dugan said. “I really like our infield. When the ball gets — and we’ve got down-ball pitchers — so when those ground balls come to the infield, either side, it’s an out. They’re a very good infield. I’ve got what I’ve lacked in previous years — my middle infield’s quick.”
The Pirates got a full look at their pitchers against the Rams when all five got time on the mound. Ashley Eyraud (Monache) and Illiana Castillo (Granite Hills) each recorded a win for the team as starting pitchers. Pitching the first game, Eyraud went four innings, allowing just one run on three hits and retiring four batters. In her two innings, Castillo struck out one batter and allowed a single hit.
“They all got to have, hopefully, their firstgame jitters out,” Dugan said. “And they did pretty well. I think Victor Valley had [four] hits one game and maybe three the other, not a lot of hits. I have some pitchers that can spin the ball.”
The outfield is the only place so far that still has question marks for the Pirates. Both Priscilla Tanguma and Sophia Carrillo are listed as outfielders out of Porterville High School and will look to find a spot there.
“We’re still working on outfield,” Dugan said. “We lost all outfield so we’re having to build a new out — well obviously we lost every position except Jules — but we’re building the outfield up. There’s a lot of competition in the outfield, who’s going to play it.”
Last season the Pirates finished seventh out of eight teams in the Central Valley Conference with a 7-13 CVC record and went 11-23 on the season. CVC play begins for PC on March 1, when the team hosts Cerro Coso at 2 p.m.
“The conference is always kind of competitive,” Dugan said. “I mean everybody, we used to be kind of weak at the bottom and we’re not anymore so there’s a lot of parity in the conference, and I think we’re going to be competitive in the conference this year.”
A Merced County native from Atwater, Huerta said she’s most looking forward to facing off with Merced and showing familiar faces how she’s improved. The two teams first face off in Merced on March 15 at 2 p.m. Last season, the Blue Devils were 2-1 against the Pirates.
“Mostly because I’m from there and I know a good amount of the girls from there,” she said. “They usually have pretty good pitching and fast runners so we all have to be quicker and more on top of it, but then again it’s later in the season so we’re going to have more time to improve.”
With nearly two weeks between their first doubleheader and their second some teams’ energy and excitement would die down but Eyraud said it won’t be hard to keep things going since the Pirates will be playing at home in front of their family and friends for the first time.
“I think the energy’s going to keep going because it’s our first home game,” Eyraud said. “And with our first home game it’s a lot of excitement, a lot of fans are going to be here and like our family and stuff. So it’s just going to be exciting for not only the girls, but for everyone else that’s here supporting us.”