By Ted Apodaca

After back-to-back CIF-SS Division 1 Championships, one might assume the Pacifica High softball team would need a rebuilding year, but the Mariners might just be re-organizing. The Mariners have opened up the season 4-1 and are looking to continue battling for the top spot in their league and division. 

The Mariners opened up the season with four straight wins before finally suffering a loss to St Joseph in a tournament game on Saturday afternoon. The Mariners had rallied from a 4-0 deficit against Gahr in a morning game to defeat the Gladiators, 5-4, in a First Pitch Tournament game on Saturday morning at Pacifica High. 

Senior pitcher Ellena Ediss struggled early, as Gahr scored four runs in the first inning. But after getting out of the first, Ediss settled down and kept the Gladiators off the board for 4 and ⅔ innings, before handing the ball over to junior Ariana Salas who closed out the final 2 ⅓ innings to get the win. Pacifica Head Coach Tony Arduino said he considered going to his bullpen, but decided to stay with Ediss, despite the rocky start.

“But you know, she kept us in it and we have a good offense, so I knew we were going to make a run at some point,” Mariner Head Coach Tony Arduino said.

After getting blanked for three innings, the Mariner offense did start to come alive. They scored three runs in the fourth, then one each in the fifth and sixth. Senior second baseman Kloe Lobato was 2 for 3 with three RBI, including driving in the go ahead run in the top of the sixth inning. As a tournament game, the Gladiators were declared the home team. With one out in the sixth, junior Ariyah Hill drew a walk and pinch runner Audrena Duran advanced to second on a ground out to second. 

With two outs, Lobato blooped a pitch over first base and down the right field line to score Duran for the go-ahead run. Senior Michaela Meza and junior Layla Ayers each also drove in a run. Lobato said the team kept pulling the ball to the left and giving up easy ground outs to third and shortstop. But when they were able to adjust and start spreading out their hits better. 

“I think we just had to adjust, like we were all doing the same thing and then we kind of worked together and figured out that, hey, if we all work together and we hit the ball, not to the left side, we’ll have a lot more success,” Lobato said.

Gahr scored all four runs (three earned) in the first inning, with Alexis Johnson driving in two and Emma Maldonado had a double and an RBI. After back-to-back CIF-SS Championship teams, the Mariners still have talented roster, but they are considerably younger than the past two years. But this year, Arduino expects to go much deeper into his roster to set lineups, particularly during the pre-league schedule. 

“There’s going to be lots of different lineups, that’s what I told them, coming in here, we could have 20 different lineups this year, very easily,” Arduino said. 

The Mariners will have another big test this weekend, when they travel to Arizona for the Dave Kops Tournament of Champions in Bullhead City. The event draws some of the top teams in the west and the Mariners are also won the event the past two seasons. On March 11, the Mariners will host Aliso Niguel, before getting into their new Crestview League against Canyon of Anaheim on March 18, at home.