Mesa’s softball team took a huge victory over Mt. San Jacinto 8-0 on April 23, setting the Olympians up for a potentially deep playoff run.
This was the team’s final home game of the season and it included a ceremony honoring its four graduating sophomores: AnneMarie Fischer, Hayley Jenkins, Isabella Casares, and Jessica Schoen. The sophomores were joined by family and friends for one of their last moments at their home field.
When speaking about this group of sophomores, Kaleigh Lane said: “We’re such a close-knit team and everyone is so talented it’s going to be really hard to say goodbye but I am really proud of them.”
The team embraced their sophomores’ last home game and put on a performance that the transferring players can remember. The Olympians are a scary team at home with a 16-3 home record this season.
The Olympians stellar defense allowed no runs and only two batters on base in the game. Their offense was especially hot in the 3rd inning, scoring 5 runs. The game ended at the bottom of the fifth as the Olympians scored 2 runs to put the game out of reach. The Olympians finished their regular season with a 28-12 record on a 8-game winning streak. Mesa finished fourth in the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference standings with a 10-6 record.
The Olympians are hoping this win will give them momentum heading into the playoffs. The Olympians are riding a hot streak but still anticipate upcoming growth. “I think our team has grown so much and that we will only get stronger heading into playoffs,” catcher/third baseman Andrea Wright said.
Wright brought in the first 2 runs of the game in the first and third innings scoring her 2 RBIs. Starting pitcher Karli Ramsey continued her impressive season on the mound only allowing 2 batters on base through 5 innings and faced 21 batters. Ramsey finished the season with a 11-4 record.
Ramsey credited her teams’s defense.
“They played great defense and it was good having them back there,” she said.
The impressive defense of the Olympians accounted for their fourth shutout during the month of April. Ramsey and the Mesa defense didn’t commit a single error throughout the game.
The great defense of this team also comes with a quick-scoring offense. Casares and Adrianna Dorame also helped in the scoring department with two RBIs each. The Olympians had 11 hits compared to the Eagles’ two throughout the game. The baserunning of Kassandra Solis-Corrales and Lane was also a contributing factor to the blowout victory.
Mesa outscored Mt. San Jacinto 17-1 in their two matchups this year. The previous game was held at Mt. San Jacinto on April 1 in which the Olympians took a 9-1 victory. The first matchup also ended in the fifth inning as the Olympians scored nine runs to secure the dominant win. In this recent match up the Eagles committed six errors that resulted in two Mesa runs. The Olympians scored four earned runs against pitcher Julissa Ledesma of Mt. San Jacinto.
The next action for Mesa will likely be a playoff matchup. Coach Jaclyn Guidi said “We are the 17th seed at the moment but hopefully this game boosts us up.”
