On April 9, the Moorpark College softball team welcomed Western State Conference rivals Allan Hancock at their home field for the two team’s second and final matchup of the regular season.
The Raiders were sitting relatively comfortably atop their conference North division with a perfect record of 9-0. The visiting Bulldogs came into enemy territory hoping to catch the division’s giant sleeping after winning 15 consecutive games before Tuesday’s contest.
That was precisely what Allan Hancock did in the top of the first inning. A handful of uncharacteristic miscues by the Raiders and some extremely hot bats for the Bulldogs created a perfect storm for the away team. All nine starting batters had seen the plate and five runs had come in to score by the switch in the first inning.
Moorpark was in an uncommon spot this year, as they were down on the scoreboard. Unfazed by the early five-run deficit, the offense took the field. A pair of timely singles from sophomores Mallory Akhlaghi and Alexa Paradis put runners in scoring position. With two outs and a full count against her, freshman infielder Isabella Velasquez rocketed a softball to the outfield for a double, scoring both runners.
After the first inning, which saw a combined seven runs, it appeared as though the home crowd may be in for a shootout. Standout starting pitcher Amanda Smith and the defense would have to diffuse the confident Bulldog offense. Two strikeouts and a flyout to left field poured water onto the flame of the visiting offense.
Coming off an efficient offensive performance in the first inning, Moorpark still had a three-run hole to dig themselves out of. Freshman right-hander Kylie Kolkowski wasted no time getting a runner on base, hammering a hard-hit ball up the middle for a double. A stellar bunt from Ashlyn Olson brought Kolkowski home and chipped away at the lead. Two errors from Allan Hancock and another Mallory Akhlaghi single put three more runs on the board for the Raiders before the end of the inning.
Nearly as quickly as the Raiders went down five, they found themselves in the lead, up 6-5 after two. Seeing three up and three down in the top of the third only energized the Raider dugout even more. Sophomore catcher Maddy Mekari, who was looking for a special birthday win this Tuesday, spoke on the team’s energy.
“We just need to keep our energy up,” Mekari said. “When we’re consistent in the dugout we’re consistent on the field. It starts before and after the game.”
Mekari put that energy to good use as she hit her first double of two against the Bulldogs. With a runner on second and a chance to bust the game open, Kylie Kolkowski was back up to the plate, ready to follow up her second-inning double. The Thousand Oaks High alum waited for her pitch, uncorked her barrel on the softball, sent it high, and left, staying inside the foul ball pole and clearing the outfield wall with ease. Kolkowski’s moonshot electrified the Moorpark dugout as if the energy was not already through the roof.
The Raiders scored eight straight unanswered runs since going down five in the first frame. The Bulldogs managed one hit in the last six innings, a single in the seventh that did not pass home plate.
While the start to the game was likely not what the starting pitcher and defense had planned, the team rallied behind one another and worked themselves back into the game. Today, the lone pitcher on the mound for Moorpark talked about her on-the-field support system and their mentality after starting the game down five.
“I just think team-wise, we needed to pick it up,” Smith said. “Our energy in the dugout was awesome. I just knew the team would pick me up if something happened, I always know they have my back.
Head coach Ashley Colon had some thoughts about the team’s mentality and approach to facing a deficit.
“Yesterday we were talking about how it’s always going to be us against ourselves. The game is tough enough,” Colon said. “The opponent on the other side is going to play their game and we have to play ours. We did our jobs today. It wasn’t the best win, but a win is a win.”
A win is a win. This win specifically would extend the softball team’s current streak to 16. The Raiders continued their dominance in a win over another division rival in Ventura with a final score of 0-8 after five innings on April 11, 2024. The incredible 17-game winning streak ended in a doubleheader against College of the Canyons on April 12, 2024.
Moorpark bounced back to retain their unblemished conference record against Santa Barbara with an 8-0 win on Tuesday, April 16, 2024. The No.1 seed Raiders will travel to Pierce College to face the Brahmas on Thursday, April 18, 2024.
