El Mo returns nine players to much improved team
The El Molino Lady Lions notched their first softball win of the spring season in a March 4 visit to Novato, pounding out 11 hits to defeat the Hornets in five innings, 21-10.
The victory came after starting the schedule with a pair of setbacks to Justin Siena (13-1) and Cardinal Newman (9-7) and improved the Lions’ preseason record to 1-2.
“We’ve got a lot of seniors this year and I like the way we’ve looked so far,” El Mo veteran coach Connie Benavides said. “We’ve been missing some players and have made some errors but we’ve been hitting pretty well.”
The Lions are coming off a challenging 4-16 campaign in 2016, including a fifth place record of 4-8 in the Sonoma County League. El Molino should easily surpass those marks with a much improved team featuring nine returning players that figure to benefit from another year of experience.
Returning to the varsity fold this season are seniors; outfielder Gabby Bushgen, infielder Kristine Daniels, outfielder Jamie Noah, pitcher/utility-player Jessica Van Rillaer, second baseman Lily Anderson and outfielder Cynthia Hernandez. Returning juniors are infielder Risa Scott-Smith and catcher Lily Krauss, while pitcher Erika Olson is the lone returning sophomore.
First-year varsity players include senior utility-players Marissa Alger and Kelsey Barron, junior Victoria Briano, sophomore second baseman Bridget Niclaes and sophomore third baseman Mel Deleon.
Lions gain split
The Lions logged a pair of games last week, beginning with a March 2 visit to Cardinal Newman. Despite out-hitting the Cardinals 13-10, Newman took advantage of seven El Mo fielding errors to outlast the Lions, 9-7.
Olson deserved a better fate, tossing a complete-game seven-hitter while walking three and striking out one to take the loss. Leading the hitting corps were Bushgen (3 for 4, run, RBI), Noah (3 for 3, run), Daniels (2 for 4, 2 runs, 2 RBIs), Olson (2 for 4, run, RBI), Barron (1 for 2, run), Van Rillaer (1 for 4, run, RBI), Alger (1 for 1) and Niclaes (1 for 4).
The Lions had their hitting shoes securely fastened on Saturday at Novato, busting the game wide open with six runs in the second, seven in the fourth and another five in the fifth to force an early stoppage on the 10-run rule to win 21-10.
Olson fired five innings of nine-hit ball while fanning one to record the win. Top hitters were Noah (2 for 4, 2B, 3 runs, RBI), Anderson (2 for 5, run, 2 RBIs), Briano (1 for 2, 2 runs), Olson (1 for 3, 3 runs, 2 RBIs), Bushgen (1 for 5, 3 runs, RBI), Barron (1 for 2, RBI) and Deleon (1 for 5, run, RBI).
Next week: a glimpse at the defending SCL champion Analy Tigers.
