Halfway Through Softball's "April Marathon" Ends With Twinbill Sweep Over Compton

With several postponements due to the heavy rain in March, the Pasadena City College softball team was given the task of make-up mode while also honoring its regularly scheduled games for this month. This has resulted in an April marathon of games. From April 1-April 15, the Lancers will have played 13 games over 15 days.

The first half of this endeavor ended for PCC on Friday, a doubleheader sweep over Compton College, 9-0 and 8-0, at Robinson Park. So far, so good for the Lancers, who are 5-2 since the trek began last Saturday. 

PCC is 18-10 overall and 11-4, now fourth place in the South Coast Conference. Compton, a program that returned to the conference after a 1-year absence, is winless in its 16 games, all SCC contests. 

Olivia Nanez, who batted 5-for-7 in the twinbill, ended the second game win on a 2-RBI, mercy rule double in the sixth inning. Third baseman Jaimie Harris batted 4-for-6 in the two games. Second baseman Gigi Leyva was the star of game 1 as she was 2-for-2 with two doubles and turned two double plays on defense. Twelve different Lancers collected at least one hit on the day. 

Compton's bats were silenced by the three PCC pitchers used in the two games. In the opener, Kiley Kraft tossed four no-hit innings, walked one batter and struck out four to improve to 9-3. Ivy Avalos pitched a 1-hit, scoreless fifth. In the second game, Elena Bahnimtewa (5-1) blanked the Tarters with a 2-hit, complete game gem, walking one and striking seven.

Compton pitcher Destiny Vega showed her fielding prowess as she made a remarkable 10 assists, shutting down PCC's bunting game, turning a line drive catch into a double play and making a diving catch out on a bunt pop. Vega also held PCC's bats in check for the first four innings of game 2 (just five hits) before PCC scored six runs late. Vega has pitched every innings for Compton this season.

On Thursday, El Camino handed PCC a 9-3 defeat. The Lancers finished 2-1 in the season series v. the state #18-ranked Warriors. PCC left-handed batting first baseman Marcella Ordonez was 3-for-4 with a double, Harris 2-for-3 and Nanez 2-for-4. 

"I'll take 5-2 for a week's worth of games," said PCC head coach Monica Tantlinger. "Some of our kids are banged up with minor ailments, but we are plowing through this stretch of games. We have six more games next week, and a big doubleheader at Rio Hondo next Tuesday but thankfully the players have some days off to prepare. Our pitching depth has been helpful because we have three starters in Kiley, Austyn Helmuth, and Elena, who can all go deep into games."

After 28 games played (one forfeit win), Ordonez leads the team in batting with a .390 average and her .519 on-base percentage is third in the conference. Harris continues to lead the SCC in RBI, now with 36, home runs (nine), and total extra-base hits (19) while hitting .383. With 78.1 innings pitched, Kraft leads the conference in ERA with a sparkling 1.43 mark.