Regals softball bounced back as they split wins in the doubleheader against the Manhattanville Valiants. The first game went to the Valiants as they took it 5-1, but the Regals claimed the second game 14-10. 

The only point in the first game came from junior shortstop Olivia Vargas, who hit a home run in the third inning to tie the game 1-1. The Regals could not keep their momentum, though, as they lost the first game.

“I had hit the home run and tied the game, but we kind of lost our energy and got down on ourselves with all the strikeouts and not hitting the ball,” Vargas said. “Then we came back out in the second game and faced the same pitcher that came in, and we got the clutch hits that we needed to keep the energy going.” 

Going into the second game, the Regals had a pep talk from Head Softball Coach Debby Day, which senior first baseman Mikayla Lopez said t was key for the comeback win.

“The first game, coach said that they wanted it more than us, and they did,” Lopez said. “Then, I think, we were like ‘okay, well we aren’t going to let them show us up. This is our home game and we need to come out and want it more than them,’ and I think we really did that in our second game.”

California Lutheran University opened the second game with a 0-2 lead, but the Valiants overtook the Regals, going up 5-4 in the second inning. However, Vargas said that the early lead was enough to keep the momentum going for the Regals throughout the game. 

“When runners were on from the other team, we were like ‘it’s okay, we get to go in and hit and keep going,’” Vargas said.

The Valiants and Regals traded leads in the following three innings.

“That’s us right there. That’s Regals softball, fighting back. No matter how down we are, we are going to keep climbing back up,” senior first baseman Ariana Mendoza said. 

The Regals managed to pull ahead in the sixth inning as they scored five runs. Three of those were from an out-of-the-park home run by Lopez that came when the score was 10-10, which gave the Regals the lead. 

“It felt really good. I just wanted to get a base hit, I wasn’t looking to get a home run. I just wanted to help the team out. I was trying to calm myself down and it worked out,” Lopez said. 

The Regals scored one more point prior to the end of the game and saw it out to win with a final score of 14-10. 

“I think we grew a lot and have figured out who we are going to be and what our team culture is and I think that’s a really important part of pregame,” Day said. “Just a lot of different people coming out of the game and supporting each other and being able to score that many runs, coming back numerous times and not giving up…that made it a great day.” 

Members of the team said the victory brought a sense of confidence to the Regals and that they believe this year is their year. 

“The game was really good. We had a lot of fight in us, from the first inning to the last. I think, honestly, this year we are going to be the team to beat,” Mendoza said.

Cal Lutheran’s next home game will be a doubleheader against Wittenberg on Thursday, March 9, at 1 p.m.