Author: Lilliane Ballesteros
Occidental’s Women’s Softball team met with devastating results when they lost a doubleheader to Whittier College on Sunday, March 30. The team received an unexpected surprise at the end of the first game, when Whittier scored a homerun on a catch made by centerfielder Hillary Armstrong (first-year), who pushed through the back fence with the ball in her glove. Umpires did not count the catch, so Whittier scored, going on to later win the game 12-11. Coach Jodie Cox commented on the play, saying “As staff, we feel that what we saw was a game-ending catch.”
The call came after both Whittier and Occidental rushed onto the field to celebrate their victories. “That game was in our hands before that call,” Alyssa Escalante (sophomore) said. “The girl before should have been called out. It was so heartbreaking to see everyone.”
The Tiger team, which won games against Patten University and Wesleyan University over the spring break, was most disappointed with the call because of its timing. “These were things that we had worked on literally the day before,” Olympia Powell (first-year) said.
Powell joined the team this year as an outfielder. She discussed the close bond the girls have formed over the past few months, saying, “Our centerfield is really close.” She was unhappy with the call and said all the girls in the outfield were affected. “It was so upsetting for that to happen,” she said. Occidental went on to compete with Whittier in a second game, struggling with a final score of 14-8 in favor of Whittier. “We didn’t stop,” Cox said, commenting on the team’s drive in the second game, in which the Tigers scored four runs in the fifth inning.
Despite the losses, the girls remain hopeful as the second leg of the season is scheduled to start Friday, April 11, when the team will face Whittier again in doubleheader away games. “I think it’s good to be playing them again,” Cox said.
Many of the girls agreed that the team is in a good place, with many of their victories yet to come. “This is a very young team,” Kelli Moriguchi (senior) said. Moriguchi, who has played with the Tigers for four years, said she sees good things in the team’s future. “Obviously they are rebuilding the program,” she said. “I think this year we are turning a few heads.” She also commented on Cox’s interaction with the team, saying, “At the end of the last game, Coach Jodie said she had not played with a team with so much heart.”
Cox also remains hopeful for the end of the season, saying the girls are staying strong during games by working together and constantly using what they have learned in practice. “Through all the things, we’ve kept on with the process,” she said.
Moriguchi echoed this sentiment, saying, “The games we have lost have been by an inch. I don’t think the next two seasons to come will be a joke.”
Indeed, the team is revving up for the end of the season, working better together on the field. “I feel like we’re so close at every point,” Escalante said. “[Wins] will come with time and learning to work with each other. There’s no place to go but up.”
“I am very excited for years to come,” Powell said.
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