The Roundup News » Defensive miscues lead to Brahma loss

Defensive miscues lead to Brahma loss

Defensive miscues led to the 18-6 defeat of the Pierce College softball team Thursday.

On the first play of the game, the visiting Mission College leadoff hitter hit a fly ball to left field that could have been caught and instead turned into the first run of the game for the Eagles.

The Brahmas bounced back with two runs of their own in the first inning and looked poised to turn around a sloppy first inning and defeat the rival Eagles. The Eagles returned the favor given to them in the top half of the inning with errors of their own.

The team that put the ball in play the most was clearly going to be the victor. This led to some more bunts being put into play to add pressure to the opposing teams defense.

“Bunting is definitely a big part of softball more so than regular baseball,” Pierce Athletic Director Bob Lofrano said.

The Brahmas pulled out to a 4-1 lead by the third inning behind the strength of starting pitcher Tatianna Steptoc.

“She’s keeping her pitches in the strike zone and playing as best as she can. Not much more you could ask for,” sophomore Laura Rodriguez said.

She pitched well, but the Eagles did not go quietly as they scored three runs to tie the score at 4-4 in the top of the inning.

Almost like a heavyweight fight, the Brahmas answered right back and scored two runs of their own in what was turning into a very well fought softball game.

In the top of the 6th inning the game took an unfortunate turn of events for the Brahmas.

The Mission softball team was able to get a lot of runners on the base paths that were causing havoc for Steptoc and the rest of the Brahmas’ defense.

“She pitcher her heart out. She hasn’t pitched since her freshman year in high school and she has done a great job for us,” said coach Pat Grennan.

Additionally, the Brahmas could not escape the fate of their own mistakes. Errors in the field and wild pitches meant minimal resistance for a team who was struggling to put together really good at bats.

The team recently has been on the road to Palm Springs and then on to Santa Monica, where they won a double header by the scores of 10-1 and 17-16.