The Arcadia High School (AHS) JV Softball team played a non-league game against Glendora High School (GHS) on Mar. 4, and the game ended with a GHS victory and a final score of 1-20. Despite the loss, the Lady Apaches played hard and displayed their skills. 

The AHS girls began with a rocky start defensively in the first inning, where GHS scored 15 points and secured the lead. The Lady Apaches made small mistakes such as overthrowing the ball, which caused the score to widen. 

“The amount of mistakes that were made on the field, whether it was not correctly fielding a ball, over throwing the ball, or not knowing all the plays that needed to be made caused us to have a difficult start to the game,” said sophomore Delilah Acosta, who plays third base.

After the first inning, the Lady Apaches regrouped in the dugout to analyze and discuss plays as well as address mistakes that required correction. In the following inning, they successfully rectified their mistakes and achieved three quick outs. They also managed to score one point, thanks to a well-placed double to center field by freshman Erin Sum. During this inning, Glendora did not score any points. 

“Our primary goals during the game were to have short innings and to have great batting performances,” said junior Isabella Martinez, who plays second base and shortstop.

Many of the players expressed that the most challenging aspect of the game was the lack of communication on the team and a number of mistakes that were made on the field.

“We struggled with making routine plays,” explained Gabby Hurtado, who plays first and third base. “We had a lot of errors with that alone. But at the end of the day, we lost because we couldn’t put runs on the board.” 

“As a team, we realized we needed to work on our communication on the field,” said Martinez. “Later into the game, when we communicated more, we were more aware of the situation.” 

All in all, this particular game served as a valuable learning experience for the Lady Apaches, prompting an evaluation of their strengths and weaknesses. The team is actively implementing measures to bridge the gap between practice and game execution, fostering better communication, refining their pitching capabilities, and minimizing avoidable mistakes to elevate their overall level of play.

The Lady Apaches’ next home game will take place on Mar. 26, against John Muir High School at 3:30 p.m.

Photo by Emma Chen