Posted: Mar 06, 2023
Westcliff's softball team traveled to Arizona to take on Benedictine Mesa in a four-game series.
The first doubleheader was played on Saturday and saw the Warriors lose both games 6-5 and 4-3 as they led in both games going into the last inning.
Unsatisfied by their performance, Westcliff came out firing on all cylinders on Sunday in games 3 and 4 as they won 15-0 and 5-0.
The Warriors won't be happy with the way they played on Saturday as they let the games slip past them in the last moments.
Head Coach Vanessa Kellems shared her thoughts on the series: "The team did a great job separating their play from Saturday and refocusing on two new games, Sunday. I thought the team did a great job being aware of what they needed to do and executing those changes."
Westcliff certainly made up for it on Sunday as they displayed the kind of baseball that makes one believe they can win the Cal Pac Tournament.
Emily Rosas dominated both games on Sunday. Rosas earned a shutout and a perfect game with eight strikeouts. Then in the second game, she shut Benedictine down with five more strikeouts. Rosas was effective on the plate as well with a couple of clutch hits.
Diamond Lewis displayed amazing defense at the third base making some great diving catches and stopping every ball hit to the left side. Lewis had a great day at the plate as well hitting her first home run of the season. Lewis was a big part of creating momentum for the Warriors in both games.
Etta Van Burgsteden who is the closer for the Warriors pitched 6 innings on Saturday and kept the RedHawks on their toes.
Airilin Ramirez made some great diving catches as well as diving to a couple of stolen bases. Ramirez did a great job at setting the tone as the lead-off hitter getting base hits and walks.
Evette Mendoza had an amazing weekend at the plate earning her first season homerun and almost had two more.
Celeste Huffman found her spark this weekend as she got the team rolling with the first run of Game 2 with her solo home run. Huffman dominated the outfield which is not her typical position.
"Our message to the team was to pass the bat and pass their energy," said Kellems. We have been improving, having better approaches at the plate and getting runners on, but struggling to get them across. We told the team to focus on swinging hard at their pitches and getting one base at a time"
"We've also had difficulties getting too complacent after scoring in the first part of the game and then coasting the rest of the game.
We told the team to keep their energy and drive up each inning regardless of the score or the inning. We told them to have the mental mindset of a 0-0 ball game and this is the first pitch, every pitch."
Up next the Warriors will host Park-Gilbert this weekend.
"We are in conference now so we can not take any team lightly, Park-Gilbert is no exception," said Kellems. We have things we need to continue to work on and build from after this weekend to continue on the right path."
