On Tuesday, April 16, the Moorpark College softball team aimed to tally another victory in the win column against Western State Conference division rival Santa Barbara City College.
After dropping their first game in over a month against College of the Canyons, the Raiders were back in conference action against the Vaqueros. Still undefeated and sitting in first place in the North division, a win on Tuesday would ensure the team’s control of their destiny in the final two games of the regular season.
A mainstay on the mound, right-hander Amanda Smith, started as pitcher for the home team in white. As the Oak Park alum has done countless times this season, Smith recorded two strikeouts in the hitless top of the first inning.
The Raiders offense took to the field in the bottom of the first inning looking to set the tone for the innings ahead. A single from Mallory Akhlaghi gave Moorpark their first hit of the game. Akhalghi has been an offensive weapon during conference play, boasting an unreal .467 batting average through 11 games against North division opponents. The sophomore out of Westlake High School would bolster those stats Tuesday, going 3-3 with three runs batted in (RBIs) on the day.
The second inning saw more staunch defense from both squads, with neither team allowing a hit. The top of the third showed more Smith dominance as she recorded her fourth and fifth strikeouts of the game through just three innings.
However, the scoring drought would come to an abrupt end at the bottom of the third inning. A leadoff single off the red-hot bat of Kylie Kolkowski seemingly opened the floodgates for the Moorpark offense. After Taytem Reyes was walked, freshman infielder Dani Bishop singled and advanced to second, scoring Kolkowski for the game’s first points. Akhlaghi hit her second of the game, bringing Reyes home on the next at-bat. A Leah Cowans groundout RBI and a signature Alexa Paradis RBI double would round out the four-hit, four-run inning for Moorpark.
Another three batters came to the plate for the Vaqueros in the fourth inning, and all three subsequently returned to the dugout. The Raider defense was firing on all cylinders, and up by four, the offense could play loose.
Kolkowski, who has a remarkable .714 slugging percentage in conference play, was back up to the plate after her teammate Maddy Mekari was walked. The infielder let her bat fly and pounded a ball high and deep into left field. Kolkowski reached first base on an error, and Mia Gregory stuck out a long at-bat for a walk, loading the bases with Bishop back at the plate. It was déjà vu as Bishop and Akhlaghi singled again to bring in three more Raider baserunners. Kolkowski discussed her affinity for the left-field wall and the teams’ energy after the game.
“Yeah, I’m really bad at waiting on the ball. Especially with inside pitches, I just throw my barrel. Most of the time it works out but other times like today it just carries foul,” the right-handed slugger said with a smile. “I think after sitting on the games [last weekend] and reflecting, I think we realized that we’re better than we were in that game. We really played how we know how to play today.”
Moorpark was running away with the contest, and after Smith tallied her eighth strikeout of the game in the fifth, the Raiders could seal the deal early with one more run. With no outs and the bases loaded thanks to an error and a pair of walks, a wild pitch brought Mekari home from third base for the walk-off run.
Bishop played an instrumental role in the Raiders’ 8-0 win over Santa Barbara on both sides of the ball. The freshman Foothill Tech High School graduate spoke about her process and what has been clicking for her lately.
“Staying calm and thinking of what I should do if the ball gets hit to me before it’s happening or [on offense] in the box thinking about what pitch to look for,” Bishop said. “I really just try to think ahead so I’m not surprised when it does happen.”
The win put Moorpark one step closer to a division-winning season and an undefeated conference schedule. Head Coach Ashley Colon reflected on the weekend’s losses and what it will take to finish the season the way they want to.
“I think the two losses were needed because we had been on such a big winning streak. It was easy to just sort of fall by the wayside on what we need to do collectively as a team,” Colon said. “When they understood that we’re in charge of our own destiny and this is how we take control over it, they went out there and just did a job today. The credit is to them.”
The Raiders traveled to Pierce College on Thursday, April 18. They left with a division-clinching victory over the Brahmas in their penultimate conference game. Softball wraps up what they hope to be an undefeated conference season against No. 2 seed Cuesta at home on Tuesday, April 23, at 2:30 PM.
