With a 15-run win against Culver City in their previous game, girls softball has had a perfect bay league record, 4-0, and a 12-5 overall record. Deep into their season, the girls traveled up the coast to face off against the Palos Verdes Sea Kings, who currently hold the 2nd bay league spot, trailing right behind Redondo. Even though PV has proven to be tough, Redondo still managed to shut them out, leaving the final score 4-0. 

During their first inning, the girls came ready to face up against their rivals. In the top of the first, Senior catcher Kayla Roe led off the game for Redondo as she flies out to right field. With Roe’s lead off at bat, the game is officially in motion as sophomore left-fielder Scotti Weems steps up to bat. Roe notes the teams prior notion about the Palos Verdes pitcher was threatening to their chances of winning, yet they did not allow this to impede their efforts early on. 

“Before the game we were a little nervous, but during one of the first few pitches I hit one to the fence. I think that set the tone for the game, it gave us a little bit of a confidence boost,” Roe said. 

As sophomore left-fielder Scotti Weems came up to bat, Palos Verdes defended their territory well, striking out Weems and giving redondo their second out. Up next, sophomore third-baseman Abby Luis stepped up to the plate, Luis faced a similar out to Weems, as the Palos Verdes pitcher struck out the side in the top of the first. As the game progressed to the bottom of the 1st, #3 grounded out to third baseman Luis. With two outs, #7 grounds out to senior second baseman Smith to close out the first. Even with Palos Verdes strong defensive tactics, the Redondo girls still managed to put up a fight, which Roe attributed to their team chemistry.

“We have nine seniors this year, which provides a lot of authority. We have a very experienced team, we all work really well together,” Roe said. 

Heading into the second and third inning, the girls continued to push in their efforts against the Sea Kings. At the top of the second, Baker grounds out to first baseman, with a following fly out to center fielder by senior shortstop Kaya Aguirre. Progressing into the bottom of the second, junior pitcher Bailey Murray was able to redeem Redondo and strike out the Sea Kings batter. Following Murray’s first strike out, she once again struck out #19 on the opposing team. Closing out the second inning and heading for the top of the third, senior Riley Williams was able to get on base with a single on a fly ball to the left fielder. As Murray once again came up to pitch, she struck out her third Sea Kings batter to close out the inning. Head Coach Jennifer Dessert emphasizes how the performance allotted by the pitchers helped the game’s overall results. 

“We pitched great against them, we got a lot of popups, and we made great plays. Our defense was solid all around,” Dessert said. 

Narrowing down towards the fourth and fifth inning, Luis was able to gain some traction with a single on a hard ground ball at the top of the fourth, it proved to be a lightning round of runs for the Redondo team, first with another single by Baker on a hard ground ball, which allowed Luis to score. Next up, senior Kaya Agurrie hit

another ground ball allowing Baker to score following Luis. Nearing the end of the top of the fourth inning, Aguirre was able to advance home with a dropped third strike, scoring the third run for Redondo. Entering the top of the fifth, Redondo was once again able to set up their play for a run. In a single by Roe, senior center-fielder Skylar Sybesma was able to advance to third, as Weems grounded out, Sybesmais able to score a fourth and final point for Redondo. Murray notes how team comradery is a big part of recognizing each player’s contribution towards the game. 

“When we’re in the game we always want to celebrate the little victories, when we go into our team huddles, we always say “good job” or  “nice play”, to try and pick each other up,” Murray said. 

Entering the final stretch of the sixth and seventh innings, Redondo held strong with a four-run lead over the Sea Kings. At the top of the sixth, Aguirre singles on a fly ball to center fielder, adding some motion early. When junior out-fielder Teilar Fry heads up to bat, she strikes out to the Palos Verdes pitcher, as Murray comes back up to pitch for the bottom of the sixth. Murray is able to strike out #99, helping finish the inning. Going into the seventh inning, Roe comes up first to bat as she singles on a ground ball to second baseman. With another strikeout from Murray, the game came to a close for a Redondo victory. As the girls head into spring break, Coach Dessert notes how the girls will continue to work on holding their first in-bay league spot. 

“We need to stay strong, we have to do a lot of intrasquad scrimmages so that when we finish our league out when we come back from spring break, we will be ready for playoffs”, Dessert said.