The Paly girls’ softball team (4-0) dominated Branham High School, adding another victory to its perfect record on Wednesday at the Paly softball field.
“This is definitely the best game we have played so far,” second baseman junior Gracie Marshall said. “It was a great overall effort. All around, our defense was pretty much flawless, and [senior] Kelly [Jenks] had a pretty solid pitching performance.”
In the first inning, the Vikings started off strong with Marshall hitting a double, followed by right fielder junior Grace Stafford hitting a single and stealing second base. With multiple hit-offs, the Vikings pulled ahead, leading 3-0.
“I think we came out more focused and more prepared compared to our past games,” said senior shortstop Lauren Bucolo. “Everyone was hitting and playing solid defense making everything work together.”
At the bottom of the fourth inning, with the Vikings on offense and half the bases loaded, third baseman senior Kristen Dauler was up at bat with two strikes and two outs. She ended up hitting a double, bringing senior left fielder Caroline McDonnell and sophomore first baseman Caitlin Tirador home and scoring an additional two points, 5-0.
“Sometimes you can get ahead early in the game but then the team can kind of die down and stop scoring runs but we kept it going because of Kristen’s hit,” Bucolo said. “She gave us our momentum back and when that happened, everyone was talking [out on the field] and having a lot more fun.”
In the final inning, as Branham continued to struggle and get a hit off the bat, senior pitcher Kelly Jenks threw two strikeouts ending Branham’s last chance to score any points. With the Vikings on offense, Bucolo hit a ball far down center field bringing Marshall home, scoring another point and winning the game, 6-0.
“We were playing a lot stronger than past games,” McDonnell said. “I thought the hitting was good and our defense had no errors. We were spot on and everyone was hitting really well.”
With the Charlie Miguel tournament at Twin Peaks this weekend, the team hopes to keep up the intensity on its defense and improve more on its hitting.
“We’re getting really great pitches from Kelly and our defense has been wonderful,” head coach Tim Anderson said. “If we can get everybody swinging the bat well, then we are going to be very competitive.”
With the team’s perseverance and confidence, the girls are looking for success in the upcoming tournament as well as future games.
“I think we found our stroke,” junior center fielder Mariah Phillips said. “It’s going to be a good season and we’re ready to take on the best of them so I’m excited.”