Cosumnes River College (CRC) softball team opened the season in the Monterey Peninsula Classic last weekend going 2-2. The Hawks swept Shasta College and dropped two games to the tournament host, Monterey Peninsula College (MPC). The original tournament schedule changed due to Gavilan College dropping out of the tournament. Leandra Coronado (Elk Grove/Monterey Trail HS) and Sydney Giovannoni (Stockton/Tokay HS) led the way at the plate for the Hawks.
"For the first weekend, we were able to see a lot of our players compete and get a better feel for what our eventual starting lineups might be. We were able to see some things we need to work on. It also allowed us to get over some of the opening season jitters," commented head coach Kristy Schroeder.
The Hawks offense got rolling on Saturday as they beat Shasta College 7-4 and 15-2. Everyone got involved in the barrage of runs on Saturday. Coronado, Kayley Rocha (Galt/Liberty Ranch, HS), Mckinzie Spriggs (Galt/Galt HS), and Becky Pedersen (Ukiah/Ukiah HS) all had two hits apiece in the first win. In the second game, Coronado was again dominant going 3-3 with 2 RBI and catcher Daisy Angeles had two hits and two RBI. The Hawks pitching staff was also dominant on Saturday as Pederson and Danielle Pfennig (Lodi/Lodi HS) each earned their first wins of the season. CRC dropped both games on Friday to MPC as they were not able to keep up with MPC's high-powered offense losing 11-3 and 12-2.
Coronado was great throughout the entire weekend as she notched 7 hits in 14 at bats collecting 3 RBI and scoring three times. Giovannoni was another offensive catalyst for the Hawks this weekend as she hit her first career home run, the first of the season for the Hawks. Pederson was also a big part of the wins this weekend as she had 2 hits in as many at bats with an RBI to go along with 10 and ⅓ innings pitched and 4 strikeouts.
"Leandra and Sydney, in particular, stood out to me. Becky did a nice job and brought some experience to the field and competed well. I thought Leandra did a good job in the field and had some excellent at bats. Sydney did a nice job at the plate as well and the home run was big because we really needed it at the time," added Schroeder.