In softball’s Tuesday game against Piedmont Hills High School, the Matadors were shut out in a 1-0 loss. A day later, on March. 12, they had already scored five runs in the first inning against Aragon High School. MVHS has four back-to-back games this week and the girls look forward to getting back into the swing of the season.

After a dominant start to the game, the Matadors clinched an 11-6 victory over AHS.

Senior Tamanna Ahluwalia stepped up to the mound and the team instantly began a chorus of “Let’s go T”‘s and “You got it T!”s. On the back of her jersey, and the backs of seniors Janaye Sakkas’ and Emily Simmons’ jerseys read their last names in purple letters, a traditional customization for each year’s seniors.

After an AHS double and a ball that flew over the fence and onto Fort Baker Drive, junior Monica McCarthy stepped up to bat and hit a single.

“As soon as I got that base hit,” McCarthy said,”the momentum just kept going.”

Photos by Malini Ramaiyer

Sophomore Danielle Koontz stepped up next and got on base with a bunt single, and junior Marissa Lee hit an RBI single immediately after.

“I felt really positive going into the game,” Koontz said. “Yesterday [at PHS] they had a faster pitcher than normal. Now that we’ve got more experience with that, I thought we could go into this game really well.”

A suicide squeeze from freshman Ann Marie Manley highlighted the first inning as well.

Sophomore Mika Maenaga batted next and a throwing error led to an inside the park home run. The Matadors were up 5-2 at the end of the first inning.

“We were really attacking in the first inning,” Koontz said. “We put five runs up. The momentum just kept going. Even though they did score some runs, we were able to hold them back and we stayed ahead throughout the whole game.”

In the second inning, McCarthy almost got picked off at first, but she beat the throw to the bag.

“Nice job kid,” coach Ray Teixeira said to her. “Way to read that.”

More throwing errors by the Dons led to two RBI singles from Lee, and the Matadors were up 7-2 in the second inning.

The score didn’t fluctuate much in the next five innings, with the two team putting up four runs each.

Teixeira explained that though the team hadn’t faced AHS before, he knew there were strong athletes on the other team and expected a good game.

The MVHS coaching staff decided to practice all of February and load the extra games into March, resulting in a packed schedule.

“I normally don’t schedule four in a row,” he said with a laugh. “We’re getting through it so far.”

The Matador’s third game is against Branham High School and their perfect 6-0 record.

After the team beat BHS 5-4 last year, the BHS coach emailed Teixeira.

“He said, ‘Good job, you had a good little team, we thought we were going to steamroll you,'” Teixeira said. “I printed [the email out] and hung it up as motivation for the team.”

This year’s team is more experienced compared to last year’s roster which featured only one senior, but the team expressed a lot of potential coming from the four freshmen.

“We have a larger roster, a bigger talent pool to draw from this year,” Teixeira said.

As the Matadors walked off the field, senior Katie Sommers approached the bleachers and asked where the players were going.

“They went through seven innings in forty minutes?” she said at 5:40. Parents in the bleachers shook their heads.

“[Sakkas] definitely said the game was at 5:00,” Sommers said, scrolling through her phone for evidence.

“They’re four o’clock games Katie,” a mom said.

Parents smiled as they picked up their bags and unclipped their cameras from their resting places on the fence, ready to watch another two games.

The Matador’s next home game is Thursday, March 12 at 4:00 p.m. Tune in for a highlight video.