The Pima College softball team played a tough doubleheader on Tuesday, losing both games to South mountain 9-2 in the first and 7-5 in the second at the Pima West softball field.
“It’s really frustrating right now,” Pima coach Rebekah Quiroz said. “We’re a very good team, but we’re not playing very well right now. We’re trying to learn how to balance working through these obstacles right now.”
The Aztecs (6-12) were run-ruled in the first game, but managed to make things a lot more interesting in the second by taking advantage of multiple miscues made the the South Mountain defense.
At the bottom of the first inning, Elise Munoz (Salpointe Catholic) and Analisa Gomez (Rincon-University) got on base after they were both walked. They then advanced bases after the opposing catcher missed on a passed ball.
Munoz stole home plate after a second consecutive passed ball by the catcher, giving the Aztecs their first lead of the game at 1-0.
South Mountain evened it out in the second when its batter hit the ball far into right-center field, driving a runner in for a RBI double. Pima didn’t allow another run for the rest of the inning.
Pima then scored three runs in the third inning due to costly errors made by the South Mountain defense. Gomez and freshman Shannon Vivoda (Pueblo) were on first and second base when they took advantage of another passed ball.
The error made by the catcher allowed Gomez to advance to third base and Vivoda to second. Freshman Stephanie Tapia was then walked, loading the bases with no outs.
Gomez stole home plate, Vivoda third base and Tapia to second after a third passed ball error was taken advantage of. Sophomore Alejandra Castro was then walked to load the bases again.
Sophomore Faith Orton (Amphi) was the third batter that was walked. The advancement led Gomez to also be moved to home, Increasing Pima’s lead to 3-1.
Freshman Kelli Samorano (Tucson Magnet) then hit a groundball past second base, into center field for a RBI single, running Tapia in to bolster Pima’s lead to 4-1. Freshman Kayla Gonzalez (Salpointe Catholic), who replaced Castro at first base, was tagged out at home plate, ending the inning.
South Mountain responded at the top of the fourth inning with a five run streak, putting the Cougars in front for the first time in game two with a 6-4 lead.
South Mountain picked the Pima defense apart this inning with multiple RBI singles. A final RBI double scored two more runs before the next batter hit a fly ball that was caught for the final out.
Pima managed to score one more run at the bottom of the inning. With two outs, Gomez hit a fly-ball deep into right-center field to put her at second base.
Vivoda next hit a fly-ball into the same spot for a RBI double. The next batter hit a ground ball to second base and was tagged out at first.
Pima would not score another run after that. South Mountain would put one more run on the board in sixth inning to put them up 7-5 for the final score.
The Aztecs’ next game will be this Saturday at the Pima West softball field. They will take on Paradise Valley in a double header. The first game starts at 12m p.m.
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