MIRAMONTE 
Coach O.C. Schott is not one to rest on his laurels. After winning their first NCS championship and advancing to the second round of the NorCal, Miramonte has won seven of their first 10 games. Schott has challenged this year’s team by not making things easy for them. “We play a very hard schedule, and the girls know that. They have been putting forth a great effort, hustling, and trying to make plays, even in our losses. We have a lot of new players and it's been a lot of fun so far.”

    Last year, Miramonte had only one senior and now has five seniors and two juniors on the roster but it is still a young team with six freshmen and four sophomores. “That’s what keeps this program alive, losing players to graduation and you look to backfill it with players coming in,” Schott said.

    Leading the team are Talia Kardon, Maddie McKim, and Abby Warren. “They are all great leaders and I think the girls really look up to them, coming from last year’s championship team,” Schott said. 

    Leading the team in hitting are Warren (.576), freshman Sydney Saben (.522), McKim (.480), Lucy Daoust (.455), freshman Sammy Hardy (.424), Avery Haynes (.412), and freshman Mila McDevitt (.355).

    With the team batting a combined .399, Schott is still looking for more. “We’ve done well offensively and we just want to tighten up things a bit but I’m happy with the progress the team has made so far. Our hope is to meet the challenges head on and finish strong.”

    Along with leading the team in batting, Abby Warren has been a dominant pitcher with a 6-2 record and 94 strikeouts and only 14 walks. Freshman Sammy Hardy has shown enough velocity as a pitcher to allow Schott to feel comfortable if she is called upon to pitch.

    Hardy has been the Swiss army knife on defense in that she can play anywhere and hit with power. Saben at shortstop and Haynes at second make the defense strong up the middle. “Sammy has been an anchor for us and Avery is done a very good job as well,” Schott said. “Lucy Daoust locks it down at first base and Maddie McKim has been solid in centerfield.” 

    “We don’t talk about last season which we celebrated and enjoyed. All the teams in our league are well coached so hopefully our non-league games are preparing us for a tough league schedule.”

CAMPOLINDO
Coming off a 7 and 14 season last year with a combined .274 average, there has been a major turnaround for Campolindo this year with the team winning six of their first nine games and having a team batting average of .469.

    “It’s like a restart this year,” head coach Saul Tallarico said. “Last year we were very senior heavy. We only have two seniors and a number of underclassmen. I was also very impressed with how competitive we have been and in the way we bounced back after a loss.”

    The six freshmen on the team have been dynamic contributors. Megan Baldelli is batting .550, Quinn Hickey .556, Ingrid O’Neill .529, Bella Albiento .308, and Bea Nelson .278. Claire Gallop and sophomores Zoe Freese and Miya Iwasaki are also seeing playing time.

    It’s not just the freshmen that are carrying the load on offense, Peyton Tallarico has seen her batting average jump 217 points this year to .385 and Ariella Kauffman’s average jumping 274 points to .417. Even junior Paige Williams who batted .576 last year is batting an insane .875 this year, going 21 for 24 with 25 RBI’s and 2 home runs. Still, she is not the team’s leading hitter. It is freshman Emily Zolbayar who is 2 for 2 this year with a 1.000 average.

    So, why the improvement? “We’ve been having better at bats,” Tallarico said. “We've been doing better with plate discipline, taking walks, and making the pitcher throw in the strike zone. Our young players have given us a burst of new energy. Last year, the players were putting some pressure on themselves to perform and it only made it harder for them. Now they’re looking for their pitch earlier in the count.”

    Williams’ pitching has been almost as good as her hitting. “Paige has been around the plate more this season and that has helped the team,” Tallarico said. “In one game, she struck out 16, with 11 swinging strike threes. Ariella has been doing the lion’s share of the catching and has made some really nice plays behind the plate.”

    The team’s defense has also improved with Albiento at third, Baldelli at short and Hickey at first base. Freshman Ingrid O’Neill is the team’s left fielder, Peyton Tallarico is in right and Nicole Furtado lines up in center field. “We’ve also eliminated a lot of easy mistakes and now we’re making the routine plays that have been the difference in limiting runs for our opponent,” Tallarico said.

    Even with few upperclassmen, Tallarico has seen players like Williams, Kauffman and Tallarico taking on leadership roles: “I’ll see them talking with the young players about something they did and it’s really working as a team.”

    Tallarico is still looking for more from the team. “We’re looking to improve on the little things, making the routine play. All the younger players are learning that all nine players move on every play and it will soon become second nature along with keeping our plate discipline, making the pitcher throw strikes.”

ACALANES
Despite losing six players from last year’s team, Acalanes has returned a number of talented players though they have had to battle through some injuries early in the season. For head coach Victor Silva, it’s just a matter of putting the right pieces in place.

    “There are six players on the team that have never played varsity, three freshmen and three who have moved up from the JV team. “Due to some injuries, we’ve had to play some first-time varsity players. We've had to throw them in against varsity pitching but they're making the adjustments and showing improvement each game.”

    Still, there is some real talent on the team led by their captains Maya Shoenhair, who is also batting .364, Lauren Foster .526 and Santana Tamayo .303. June Natal .552, Vanessa Choi and Gabby Huerta have also been key players for the Lady Dons and the team has a combined .355 batting average.

    “Maya is our top pitcher and hitter and Lauren is a very fine outfielder and top hitter,” Silva said. “Santana has been solid at third base and is also hitting well. June played catcher last year and is now playing short and second and is our leading hitter. Gabby has been fantastic behind the plate. Ella Greenfield has come back off an injury and is playing first base and has been holding up well. Avery DeMent, a flag football and soccer player is playing softball for the first time and has shown herself to be a real competitor in the field as has freshman Addison Horwath who has been solid in left field.”

    A real addition to the team has been assistant coach Kiko Garcia, who graduated from Ygnacio Valley and went on to play 10 years in the major leagues, mostly with the Baltimore Orioles. “With so many new players on varsity, we started the season making too many errors,” Silva said. “Since then, Kiko has been working on the team’s fielding and our error numbers have been dropping steadily.”

    Silva know that he is playing in a tough conference but remains optimistic: “It's just a matter of this team growing together. Everybody has had to find out what it’s like to play varsity. It’s been a real learning experience trying to figure out the team and the girls adjusting to varsity ball and as they have done so, the team’s play has improved.”