CUPERTINO, CA - The Prospect softball team came into Wednesday's game at Monta Vista in search of its first victory of the season. The Panthers wound up earning even more than that.
Prospect (1-3) scored two runs in the seventh to defeat host Monta Vista, 7-5, in a win the Panthers hope will boost their morale for the rest of the season.
“This is our first win, so knowing that we have one win under our belts,” Prospect junior Jacqui Lemos said. “We have the confidence to go for the next few games to win and do better.”
With the score tied 5-5 heading into the top of the seventh, junior Keelin Spencer led off with a double. Senior Mattea Carveiro knocked in the go-ahead run with a double. Then sophomore pitcher Kira Gustlin brought in pinch-runner Erica Conlan with an RBI single and a 7-5 lead.
Despite having the bases loaded with just one out, Prospect was unable to add to its lead.
“They didn’t really let down,” Prospect coach Jason Potmesil said. “They were just anxious about trying to get that first win.”
Monta Vista put two runners on base - Aly Olkein and Molly Huang - but failed to score in the bottom of the seventh.
“[It was] a tough loss,” Monta Vista coach Raymond Teixeira said. “As a team I think we had the ability to beat them, but we just didn’t play well enough today. It’s still early in the season, we have lots of things to work on.”
The game started off on the right foot for Prospect, as a triple by senior Maddie Lind scored two runs in the top of the first. The Matadors had junior Danielle Koontz pitching, but consistent hitting by the Panthers resulted in runs in every other inning.
“We got a lot more hitting going on consistently within innings. Whereas, in the past, we were getting one hit here, one hit there,” Potmesil said. “We just got to clean it up a little bit, defensively.”
Monta Vista took advantage of some poor Prospect defense to score three runs in the fifth to tie the game 5-5.
“Well we had five or six errors, of the five runs they scored, four were unearned. So when we’re giving away four runs, the game could be 7-1,” Potmesil said. “We stayed with it. They believe that they could still get it done because they were hitting and they knew they could get it.”
“Some of us did a few errors which made it more intense than we would like,” Prospect senior Maddie Lind added. “But I feel like our team did a pretty good job against this pitcher.”
Monta Vista (2-3) travels to Leigh for a non-league game Thursday. Prospect opens league play next week at Silver Creek.
