Tuesday, March 22, 2016
Week Nine
For my last article I did a story about whether the San Francisco Giants would reach the World Series again.
Week Seven
For week seven I switched it up again and wrote a softball story instead. But like the baseball story it did not make paper or online.
By: Sergio Valencia
Rain
brings an end to De Anza Softball awful loss against Diablo Valley College
Friday afternoon.
Marking the fifteenth
straight loss for De Anza this season and the fifth time they’ve been shut out
after losing 9-0.
From
the beginning the Diablo Valley Vikings poured it on against the Dons. Earning
6 of their 9 runs at the top of the second inning.
Team
captain, and pitcher Molly Mills would have the hard task of rallying the team
and keeping the team with a positive energy after having a few errors, she
said.
“You really just have to
forget about the errors,” said Mills, “You just have to shake them off really
quick and not let it affect the rest of the game.”
After a horrible second
inning the Dons defense stiffened a little and finally earned its only run of
the game during the fourth inning courtesy third base(wo)man Katie Failner.
Since she was young
Failner has been a part of struggling teams so she always tries to do her part
by being a voice for the team giving them positive criticism, she said.
“Give them criticism but
positively because girls are more sensitive,” said Failner “Making sure that
the criticism is constructive and not destructive.”
Criticism and all De Anza
still could not catch a break, yet alone a ball. Allowing a pop up to first to
land on the ground instead of a glove after there was a mix up between several
players on who was going to catch it.
Yup, that’s the type of
day they had.
Diablo Valley on the
other hand would capitalize on the Dons mistakes, picking up the final two
scores of the game in the fifth inning.
By this point Dons head
coach Megan Kravets was making changes to the line ups on both offense and
defense trying to find a formula that works.
“I was just trying to
change things up for pitching to see if it would help,” said Kravets “And to
see if we can make any changes in the outfield for us to give us more depth.”
Its
clear De Anza is still trying to find its groove, and the team still has its
head up. “A win is coming soon” said Mills.
Week Six
Now we start to change it up. This week I wrote a baseball story that didn't make the paper or online. so here's my copy.
By: Sergio Valencia
Sunny skies turned grey on the De Anza Dons Wednesday, Feb.
10 falling to Marin College 4-1 after three and a half hours of play.
Even with the clear skies and warm weather, neither team was
able to establish themselves early on. Going two innings without a single
score.
It wasn’t until the top of the third that Marin was able to earn
the first score of the game after getting a few good hits. Holding De Anza
without a score until the bottom of the fifth inning.
After the slow start head coach Erick Raich pulled the team
aside, letting them know he wasn’t pleased with the performance thus far, and
that they needed to put pressure on the other team.
“I was a little
disappointed in our competiveness,” said Raich, “It didn’t seem like we had a
lot of fight”
The players responded.
No player responded more than sophomore outfielder Cris
Castillo. Starting the fifth inning with a single, then stealing his way to
second, and finally finding his way all the way home after a throwing error by
the catcher.
“You want to be the catalyst, no matter where you are in the
lineup,” said Castillo, “If you get in late in the game you want to do
something that affects the team in a positive way”
And Castillo did just that, sparking some excitement in his
team by laying it all on the line, leading the team with two stolen bases and
earning the teams only run of the night.
However, the Dons were unable to keep Castillo’s momentum
going. Failing to earn a single run for the remainder of the game, while giving
up three to the Mariners.
The lose puts the team at a 3-2 record to start the season,
leaving some room for improvement.
Every game is a learning experience, a couple mistakes were
made here and there, but nothing that can’t be fixed, said sophomore infielder
Alex Roque.
Aside from some small mental mistakes, De Anza’s real
problem was a lack of competitiveness, said Raich.
“I think we’ve got half the guys that really care and want
to compete, and I think we have another half that are kind of just happy to say
they’re playing college baseball,” said Raich.
Look for the Dons to have adjustments made in their lineups
for future games as coach Raich searches to find his “magic ingredient” for
more wins as the season progresses.
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