Despite entering Saturday winning two of the last three games, the Brahmas lost 6-5 to the El Camino Compton Center College Tartars in the first game of a double header.
The Brahmas have faced the challenge of getting enough players on the roster this semester, which has resulted in many inexperienced athletes joining the team.
“When you are taking on a new sport and you don’t know the ins and outs of it, there is a learning curve that goes on,” said assistant coach Mark Cooley. “The good news is towards the end, some of the newer kids who have just come on are starting to adjust now. It’s gratifying to see as a coach.”
The team’s lack of energy and attitude appeared to affect the Brahma’s ability to hit consistently.
“I think that our weakness right now is definitely not being aggressive in the box, letting too many strikes pass us and not being aggressive early,” said Brahma Brittany Maxwell.
Sporadic energy levels and aggressiveness can lend itself to sporadic, unsuccessful plays, according to Cooley.
“Two things we need to always control are our effort and our attitude,” Cooley said. “The difference is the indifference in this case.”
By the seventh inning the Brahmas seemed to gain momentum. However, frequent missed scoring opportunities haunted Pierce.
“We picked up a lot of our energy in the seventh inning mostly because there were runners on base, we were scoring more, we knew the game was closer than it was before and we were losing by one,” Maxwell said.
If Pierce stayed consistent for long enough during the last inning, they would have won, according to Lopez.
Even though hitting was weak throughout the game, Pierce kept Compton at bay with a strong defense.
“I think we did pretty well. But obviously we lost by one. Considering some of the other games we have played I think we did a lot better with defense,” Maxwell said.
Compton’s softball team has faced similar issues of low player counts and the learning curve that goes along with brand new players.
In the last three games Compton has played against Pierce, today’s game is the closest they have come to losing to the Brahmas, according to Compton Community College’s Head Coach Joe Magno.
“Pierce has improved a lot from where they have started to where they are now, especially their pitcher. She is doing a great job,” Magno said.
Compton had to work against Pierce’s pitcher, as she kept the Tartars off-balance.
“Defense-wise, I think I did well. Hitting-wise, I think I could do better.We have a lot of girls who haven’t played really. If it wasn’t for them coming in ,I wouldn’t be able to play, so I appreciate them,” Lopez said.
For the second game in the day, Pierce’s goal is to keep their energy strong the entire duration of the and work on their consistency.
“We just need to be focused,” Maxwell said.
Pierce would go on to lose the second game 10-1.
