After being down 14-0 going into the bottom of the fifth inning against the Mohave Thunderbirds, the Mingus Union Marauders softball team felt more determined than hopeless.
The Marauders got more focused, hit better and made fewer errors, senior outfielder and first base player Chloe Rosenberg said.
After several deep field hits, the Marauders scored three runs, not quite enough to stop the 10-run mercy-rule end after the fifth inning.
“They didn’t give up,” Head Coach Jerome Heitzeman said. “There’s still a drive, there’s still a fight, whatever the score is.”
Following the game, the Marauders have gone 2-11 in the season and are ranked No. 32 in the state in the 4A conference.
Sophomore shortstop Ali Hernandez said, so far, her experience on the team has been entirely positive and has had a lot of fun playing and bonding with her team members.
“[I like] playing for fun,” she said. “Yes, play good, but without fun, then what’s the point?”
She said she got into softball when she was about 10 years old. She’s one of three sophomores on the varsity team.
“This year was going to be a big learning year,” Heitzeman said. “Still working on some bad habits that we’re trying to fix, but the younger girls coming up, I mean, JV, they’re beating everybody.”
Rosenberg said the team began practices in late fall, when Heitzeman replaced Shawna Figy as coach.
Hernandez said she’s been playing with a lot of the players since she started in T-Ball.
Freshman JV catcher Marissa Lyons said she’s looking forward to finishing out the year strong and improving as much as possible before moving to varsity with the rest of the team.
“Because when we first started, we were all over the place,” she said. “We didn’t trust each other, like we’re a team.”
Lyons and Hernandez, Nos. 33 and 42 respectively, said they each have the same numbers their parents had when they were playing in high school. Both said they have a long history playing just about everywhere on the field. Hernandez liked the view of the field she gets at shortstop in between bases, and Lyons said she stepped up one year when the catcher had an injury and she kept with it ever since.
Camryn Maxwell, a freshman pitcher, said she also got her start watching her parents play softball and baseball.
“Mom was a pitcher, and dad was the first baseman,” she said. “I looked at my mom, and I was like, ‘she’s so cool. I want to be like that.’”
Both teams sat on the field after the game ended, having a picnic and playing games. Maxwell said the team’s bond is good. Her goals are mainly personal.
She wants to “get more competitive,” she said. “Still have fun, but … just be there for the team when they need me.”
Tournament
The Mingus Union Marauders is set to host the Faith Moore Memorial Softball Tournament Saturday and Sunday, April 17 and 18. The team will host:
- Santa Cruz Valley Dust Devils, 2A Valley
- Mohave Accelerated Patriots, 2A West
- Anthem Prep Eagles, 1A West
- Florence Gophers, 3A Central
- Apollo Hawks, 6A West Valley
- Sunnyslope Vikings, 6A Central
- Williams Vikings, 1A North
