Knights edged out by Olympians

City College softball team suffers loss against conference rival Mesa College, 7-2

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David Pradel

Mesa College freshman Sabrina Gonzalez hits the ball over San Diego City College freshman pitcher Micela Ross during the seventh inning of the game, where the Knights lost 7-2 against the Olympians on March 11 at the Betty Hock Softball Field. Photo credit: David Pradel

David Pradel, Sports Editor

In the opening minutes, Mesa College got on the scoreboard first and never looked back as the Knights softball team was defeated by their conference rivals 7-2 at home on March 11.

“I think overall we did well, we just need to get our timely hits and just back up our pitchers more,” freshman Alex Galatis said.

The Olympians got the first run in at the top of the first inning and although Galatis fired back with a double and after a RBI from freshman Malin Ellstrom that brought Galatis home; Mesa College poured in the fourth and sixth inning and got the victory.

At the top of the sixth inning, Mesa got two runs in and was up 5-1 which forced freshman starting pitcher, Ivana Gonzalez to be switched out for freshman Micela Ross.

Ross came out with strong energy and strong pitches, but it was a little too late and the Knights couldn’t overcome their 5-point deficit against the Olympians.

With the loss against the Olympians, the Knights fell to an overall record of 5-13 and a conference record of 1-7.

Like Galatis mentioned earlier, she continued to express that in order for the team to get some wins, it all lies on timely hitting.

“I think we just need to get our timely hits. We can hit the ball but we don’t do it when runners are on — say third base; we don’t get the hits to move them around,” Galatis added.

In the game, the Knights left a total of seven runners on base.

In the Knights first meeting with the Olympians on Feb. 13, the Knights lost 8-0. But recently, on March 17 after losing their first two matchups against Mesa; City College got the 3-2 victory which ended the team’s seven game losing streak.

“I feel like our bats are getting better, our energy is getting better and we are connecting more as a team; but we just aren’t moving runners over like we should,” Ross said.

Currently, the team sits in seventh place in the conference with an overall record of 7-16 and a conference record of 2-9.