Thunderbird softball win two conference games within last week
The Mesa Community College softball team defeated South Mountain Community College on Saturday and Paradise Valley Community College on Tuesday, earning their first conference wins since February.
The victory over SMCC broke a 22 game losing streak for the Thunderbirds who sit at 4-28 overall and 3-25 in conference play during a tumultuous season.
The Thunderbirds’ most recent matchups against Yavapai College were rescheduled for a second time to April 25 after the team was unable to field enough players to compete, according to the MCC Athletics website.
The games were originally scheduled for March 26, however were postponed due to weather conditions at the time.
Freshman catcher Allison Wilson is tied with freshman outfielder Brooklyn Krasa in hits this season with 28.
Wilson also leads the team in batting average at .394, on base percentage at .429, and comes in second on the team to Krasa in slugging percentage at .549.
Krasa leads the team in runs batted in with 18, holds a .346 AVG with an OBP of .411, and leads the team with a .617 SLG.
The team has also received contributions from freshman infielder Rylee Yeoman, sophomore pitcher Catalina Sanchez, and sophomore Alexxa Torres, all of whom boast an batting average over .300.
Freshman infielder Alyssa Rico and sophomore outfielder Adele Didriksen also join Wilson and Krasa as the only Thunderbirds with an OBP over .400.
Sanchez has also carried the team’s pitching staff, taking the mound for 130.2 of the 141 innings played so far this season.
The 130.2 IP leads the conference, with sophomores Adriana Armstrong from Scottsdale Community College and Jessie Garcia from Arizona Western College tied for second place with 110.1 IP.
The only other pitcher in the conference to tally over 100 IP is freshman Samara Romero from Yavapai.
Sanchez leads the conference in complete games, hits, runs, earned runs and bases on balls, in part due to the volume of playing time she has been tasked with.
However, Sanchez’s 3.38 ERA puts her at eighth in the conference just behind Garcia of Arizona Western, who sits at 3.36.
Krasa also aids the team’s pitching staff as well, coming in second on the team with 25 IP.
The Thunderbirds next take the field against Chandler-Gilbert Community College on Saturday, April 20 in a home double header at 12 p.m. and 2 p.m.
