The softball team defeated the Palo Alto Vikings 5-4 in a nail-biter game on Monday afternoon. The Vikings held the lead throughout the game, but the Bears came through in the sixth inning to take home the win.
The game started off with junior pitcher Gracy Nava on the mound. Paly’s batters entered with intense momentum and hit hard ground balls, giving them an early 2-0 lead. M-A was quick to hold them with the first out by junior center fielder Emma Loose, who caught a pop fly. Sophomore first baseman Olivia Rodgers followed this up with an impressive double play, catching a line drive and immediately throwing it home for senior catcher Kylie Cox to tag the runner out.
Kicking off the bottom of the first inning, Nava started M-A off with a walk to first and advanced with sliding steals at second and third base. Junior second baseman Juliana Pandolfo built on this with a hard line drive to third base, but the Vikings were quick to catch it and simultaneously tag Nava out. Not long after, Paly was able to gain their third out, ending the first inning.
However, this only pushed the Bears to apply more pressure, and Nava capitalized on the Vikings’ hitting errors for the first out. Soon, Pandolfo fielded a grounder at second and got the out at first, and Nava closed the inning with a strikeout. Despite this intensity, M-A wasn’t able to score any runs during their next at-bats due to a catch in right field and a strikeout by Paly’s pitcher.
In the top of the third inning, the Bears continued to hold the Vikings with solid defense. Rodgers pulled through with a very close out at first base, and freshman left fielder Sophiann Lin caught a fly ball. Following this up, senior right fielder Elise Koo effortlessly caught a pop fly, ending the inning with M-A trailing, 2-0. M-A couldn’t convert, as they failed to score in the bottom of the third inning with three outs at first.
M-A continued to excel on defense during the top of the fourth inning. At shortstop, senior Carey Maletis snagged a ground ball and threw it straight to Rodgers at first base to get the first out. Soon after, Koo quickly fielded a ground ball, sending it to Rodgers for the second out. Building on this, freshman third baseman Lavietani Taufahema* ended the inning with another out at first.
Next up to bat, the Bears started off shaky with getting out on first, but Pandolfo was able to hit a single and steal second base seamlessly. However, the fourth inning was quickly ended with a groundout and a strikeout.
Entering the fifth inning, the Vikings were able to obtain one hit. Nava continued to excel on the mound by striking a Paly hitter out with a crazy curveball and throwing another runner out at second. M-A’s defense went smoothly after, with Koo ending the inning again with another flawless catch. Still, the Bears were unable to get their bats going as three batters struck out, keeping the score at 2-0 with Paly in the lead.
However, it was in the sixth inning that M-A turned things around. The Bears continued to stop Paly, as Rodgers executed a perfect first out by fielding with a backhand. Adding onto this, Taufahema fielded a difficult ground ball while throwing a sharp ball to first, resulting in the second out. Once again, Pandolfo came up with a clutch catch at second, gaining the third out.
In the bottom of the sixth, Rodgers started off the inning with high intensity, hitting a hard ground ball to second, getting on first base. She soon advanced to second with a steal, and with a passed ball slipping through the catcher’s glove, Rodgers quickly stole third. Senior right fielder Molly Rosen followed by ripping a fly ball in left field, sending Rodgers home and giving M-A their first run, 2-1.
This momentum didn’t falter, as Nava swooped in by sending a line drive to the outfield, resulting in a double and continuing the rally. The next batter up was Pandolfo, with loud cheers coming from the dugout. She sent a hard ground ball up the middle, which allowed Rosen to score and Nava to advance, tying the game, 2-2. With the tensions high, the Vikings knew they had to tighten up their defense. They did just that, and Maletis fielded a ground ball to get their first out. Cox kept the rally alive and sent a flying ball through the Vikings’ glove, sending both Pandolfo and Nava home, giving M-A a 4-2 advantage. However, Paly finished off the inning, striking out Loose and catching Koo’s fly ball.
“Every at-bat we really battled, those ten or more pitches at bat were amazing. And I thought everybody was making adjustments at bat and I’m really proud of how we battled back and we never gave up, we were fighting until the very last second,” Cox said.
In the top of the seventh, Koo entered the mound, but at just the right speed for Paly to send a line drive to the middle field. They continued to hit singles, but Pandolfo fielded a fast ground ball at second, throwing to Taufahema at first. However, this allowed the Vikings to score, bringing the total to 4-3. Taufahema didn’t stop there; she then threw straight to Nava at third, and with the runner sliding into the base, Nava reached down just in time to get the first out. Paly sent a deep ground ball into left field, but Lin didn’t hesitate to stop it. With runners on first and third, the tensions were high. The Bears switched Koo for Nava on the mound, only giving Nava half an inning to rest, but it was just enough to slow down Paly’s offense.
Nava hit the ground running by throwing two strikes, but the Vikings drove one to left field, sending in a runner to tie the score again at 4-4. With the runner on third taking a deep lead, Cox attempted to throw her out, but the ball just missed Taufahema’s glove, and the runner took a chance to run home. Still, M-A remained unbothered, as Taufahema retrieved the ball and sent a straight shot right back to Cox, giving her the perfect ball to tag out the runner coming home. Paly delivered a line drive to left field, but Lin came up clutch with the out to end the inning tied, 4-4.
Entering the bottom of the seventh inning, this was the Bears’ last chance to win. The inning started with an out at first and a strikeout, but this didn’t scare the Bears. Nava stood steady and sent a ball past third to get to first base. Pandolfo didn’t waste a second and hit the ball down the middle, bouncing off the pitcher’s glove to allow Nava to advance to third base. With the game on the line, the Vikings’ catcher let a passed ball slip by, and Nava seized the opportunity to score the winning run, securing a 5-4 win for the Bears.
“We were very solid. As a pitcher, my defense was backing me up really good. We got the bats rolling over these past few games, especially this one and we did a really good job,” Nava said.
“I think a lot of people were intimidated. This has kind of been the best pitcher we faced so far, she pitches pretty fast and has some movement. But I think once we realize that she’s not all that, we can choose our pitches and force her to pitch us good strikes,” Pandolfo said.
The Bears will travel to take on the Woodside Wildcats on Wednesday at 4 p.m.
*Lavietani Taufahema is a journalist for the M-A Chronicle.
