In a close game that went into an extra inning, the Paly girls’ softball team won, 1-0, against Los Altos High School on Tuesday, at the Paly softball field.

“My goal this season is to win the whole thing,” coach Tim Anderson said. “These juniors and seniors have been playing with each other for a while and they have high expectations and so do I.”

Throughout the slow and steady game, during which both teams remained tied at 0, the Vikings were anxious to score and stole a couple bases.

“We really have to work on our offense,” senior shortstop Lauren Bucolo said. “We have a lot of strong hitters but we didn’t execute today. If we just work on our hitting and keep up our defense, everything will just fall into place.”

During the final inning, the Vikings put up a fight to defend their home plate. Second baseman junior Gracie Marshall saved the Vikings with a double play, allowing them to end Los Altos’ turn at bat.

With the Vikings on offense and half the bases loaded, Los Altos made a minor mistake and over threw the ball, allowing the Vikings to score a point and ending the game.

Despite its first victory, the team was unsatisfied with its performance and has much to work on, according to Anderson.

“It was ugly,” Anderson said. “We didn’t hit the ball at all and the pitcher did a great job against us, and we won because of our defense and our critical pitching at the right time…we’re going to have to get a lot better if we’re going to be competitive.

The girls themselves were unhappy with the outcome and hope to lead with a strong victory at their next game.

“We could have done a lot better,” third baseman senior Kristen Dauler said. “It’s going to take time to do what we need to work on and we just need to work harder for the next game.”

As the girls continue to work hard and improve, they are looking forward to a successful future.

“We need to learn to mold together as a team,” right fielder junior Grace Stafford said. “With him [the coach] helping us through tough situations, we will work well together as a team and hopefully win a lot of games.”

The Vikings’ next home game will be against Woodside at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, March 16, on the Paly softball field.