It has been a mixed season for the 6-6 Palo Alto High School varsity softball team, who fell to dominant SCVAL league team Homestead 5-3 in their last game of regular season play. The Lady Vikes, who had won their past three matches, found that their hitting game was not able to compete with the Mustangs, who have now advanced to 10-0 in league play.

Pitcher Julia Saul (‘14) was aware of this going into the game, and did her best to halt the Mustang’s bats.

“They’re definitely a good hitting team and I had some moments where it was hard for me to find the strike zone, but my main goal was to throw strikes and to throw pitches that they weren’t going to crush into the outfield,” Saul said.

The first three innings clearly showcased the versatility of the Mustang batting lineup, as Homestead put four runs on the board while Paly players could not get on base. Slow to warm up to the game, the Lady Vikes began to show confidence in the top of the fourth.

Saul’s pitching combined with good infield coverage by both Gracie Marshall (‘11) and Hannah Bundy(‘14) held two Homestead runners on first and second base and got Paly out of a sticky defensive situation. In turn, the bottom of the fourth saw a brief revival of Paly’s hitting game, as Maya Padilla (‘13) and Marshall had base while Bundy, Grace Stafford (‘11) and Mariah Philips (‘11) all had RBIs. By the end of the fourth and the score 4-3, it seems the Vikings were back in it.

But the fifth inning put Paly in tough spot. Though University of Hawaii-bound Colleen Aubrey (‘11) grounded out, the Mustangs were able to drive in another run off a double to center field after an infield error put the runner in scoring position. Paly held them to just the single run, putting the score at 5-3 going into the bottom of the inning.

At first, things looked good for the Lady Vikes: Anna Rizza (‘13) hit a line drive single into right field on one of the first pitches of her at bat, and was advanced by Padilla’s single and Emily Swanson (‘12)’s bunt. With one out and two runners in scoring position, Anna Gale (‘11)’s bunt went straight to Homestead’s pitcher, who faked the throw to first before sneakily flipping the ball to the third baseman. Rizza, caught mid-steal between third and home, was tagged out and Padilla’s attempted steal of third was caught just in time.

Head Coach Tim Anderson believes this trick play to be the turning point of the game.

“Yeah we made a couple of mistakes, but it’s all a part of the game,” Anderson said.  “The double play was a killer. When you look back, that had to have been the turning point.”

The Lady Vikes ended the inning with no runs scored.

The rest of the game was much of the same for both teams: not many hits on the Paly side, while Homestead failed to capitalize on their other scoring opportunities. The game ended with a three up, three down bottom of the 7th and the Lady Vikes fell to questionable playoff eligibility.

Anderson, however, remains confident that his team will get a bid and commends the team’s effort despite the loss. He also believes that his current Paly team proved that it accomplished far more than expected over the course of the season.

“I couldn’t be prouder: they really fought hard and played a great game against a great team,” Anderson said. “We never say die. We have a 6-6 league record, and that’s where we were last year. I think people thought that after you lose Kelly Jenks (’10) and Lauren Bucolo (’10) and some other good players that people don’t have great expectations. This year the team never quit, and I think we exceeded the expectations of everyone and certainly met or exceeded our own.”

While Rizza admits that a win would have easily secured the Lady Vikes a playoff spot, she and her teammates maintain a positive attitude and are focused on improving their hitting game for the possibility of a post season.

“If we [had won], it would have been a really nice boost in [to the playoffs],” Rizza said.  “We’ve been working on having a positive approach going up to the plate and expecting strikes and expecting your pitch right there. Being prepared for when [your pitch] comes is [important] because every moment, every second there’s something happening.”