Monarchs remain scoreless in doubleheader against Olympians

Leaving multiple runners in scoring position each game, Valley was unable to go the distance and wound up falling to San Diego Mesa College 7-0 and 5-0, respectively.

By Edward Segal, Valley Life Editor

Valley relief pitcher Isabel Ward (middle) pitches after entering in the third inning of game one against San Diego Mesa College. (Jose Callejas / Valley Star)

Going scoreless through 13 innings, the Monarchs showcased their inconsistency as they dropped both legs of the doubleheader against the Olympians.

Valley College softball (2-11) lost twice by a cumulative score of 12-0 on Friday, displaying their empty offense and struggles on defense. Besides the home runs, most of the scoring by San Diego Mesa College (6-6-1) was unearned. The Monarchs had five errors and eight wild pitches through both matches.

“Be aggressive, be smart, be agile, be athletic,” assistant coach Brianna Velasquez told the team after the game. “We’re here every night for you. You have no excuses.”

San Diego Mesa struck quickly, hitting a single on their first at-bat and watching the runner advance to second on a wild pitch. Two sacrifice bunts later, the Olympians brought the runner home.

Three singles loaded the bases with two outs as the Olympians looked to take a commanding lead, but a groundout saved the Monarchs from that fate.

In the top of the second, two singles for San Diego Mesa and two more wild pitches on Valley’s end allowed the Olympians to bring home another run, pushing the Monarchs in a hole they have struggled to dig out of all season. This was amplified when Olympians’ infielder Ambria Guye hit a two-run home run in the fourth to make the score 4-0.

Valley had three opportunities to decrease the Olympians’ lead throughout the first four frames thanks to wild pitches putting the Monarchs in scoring position, but failed to string together hits to drive in runs.

More Monarchs’ mistakes led to the deficit growing to seven as the mercy rule came into effect, ending game one after six frames.

“Our defense has to be more engaged,” said assistant coach Andrea Contreras. “We have to get less errors and more hits.”

Valley pitcher Amber Basham (middle) tries to catch the ball and tag the Olympian runner (left) before she reaches home. (Jose Callejas / Valley Star)

The second game started in similar fashion as wild pitches led to Olympian runners stealing more bases. This led to another two-run home run past the left field wall by reigning Pacific Coast Conference athlete of the week, catcher/infielder Carissa Topolinski.

In the bottom of the second, freshman pitcher Jessica Lopez gave the Monarchs life with a double to the centerfield wall. She advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt from sophomore centerfielder Elizabeth Flores, but the Olympians again put the Monarchs away before she could score.

Freshman shortstop Téa Carbajal made it to third after hitting a double and proceeding on a sacrifice bunt, but the Olympians grabbed two more outs to end the inning.

The Monarchs played all seven innings in game two, but lost 5-0 after several failed opportunities with runners in scoring position.

To add injury to insult, Elizabeth Flores went down in pain after sliding into an Olympian infielder when she attempted to advance to third. The outfielder will be evaluated on a day-to-day basis as she joins the injury list with shortstop Caitlyn Pineda, who suffered a pulled hamstring against Rio Hondo College.

“You win together, you lose together,” said coach Greg Venger. “We’re really just trying to get prepared for the conference, and we have another two weeks to do that.”

On Thursday, the Monarchs will travel to Allan Hancock College, looking to prevent their second loss to the Bulldogs of 2022.