By Pete Borello
The Mountain View High softball team’s recent struggles aren’t necessarily due to a lack of hitting, pitching or fielding.
The Spartans 0-4 start in the SCVAL De Anza Division, according to head coach Robert Herrera, has more to do with the absence of a vital intangible.
“A lot of it has to do with finding a team leader of sorts,” he said. “It’s been leader by committee; we need a take-charge leader on the field.”
Yet Herrera isn’t sure he has such a player on his roster.
“It’s a talent to be a vocal person,” the team’s second-year coach said. “We have a very good group of seniors who have done a good job, but I don’t think we have a vocal presence like Siobhan Hyde was last year.”
Whether or not someone can step forward to fill the gaping void left by Hyde, who graduated last spring, is yet to be seen. In the meantime, Herrera is urging his players to at least lead by example.
“Right now, they wait for something to happen, rather than make it happen,” he said. “We need that to change if we’re going to turn things around.”
The improving play of pitcher Alyssa Robbins and outfielder Peyton Paulick could also help the Spartans get back on track and perhaps perform more like the team that went 7-1 in non-league play.
Paulick, who joined the team late due to basketball, is starting to shake the rust off her bat.
“She’s just starting to come around,” Herrera said of the junior. “She going to be an impact player.”
Robbins has been hampered by a sore shoulder for much of the season and just recently started pitching again. The ace of the staff last season, Robbins’ record fell to 3-3 last Thursday in a 1-0 home loss to Lynbrook.
“We need to watch her and use her gingerly,” Herrera said of the senior. “We have another pitcher to help her, but the team really responds with (Robbins) on the mound.”
That other pitcher is Ayra Maggay, who played on the junior-varsity team a year ago. The junior enters this week with a respectable 6-4 record.
“She’s pitched well,” Herrera said. “Without her, we’d really be in trouble with Alyssa’s injury. She’s gaining more confidence and is throwing all the pitches.”
The coach said the Spartans are also getting strong play from infielders Sally Schonhardt, Samantha Osborne and Jessica Palmyra, plus catcher Ashlee Choi. Schonhardt is Mountain View’s leading hitter; Osborne and Palmyra have solidified the middle of the infield; and sophomore Choi “has done a great job behind the plate,” Herrera said.
The Spartans host Monta Vista at 4 p.m., Thursday.
Los Altos 4, Monta Vista 3
Ashley Mateo “made the outstanding play of the game,” Los Altos coach Bernie Quintero said, gunning down a runner at the plate in the fifth inning to keep the Eagles within a run of host Monta Vista.
An inning later, Los Altos scored twice to take a lead that would hold up in Thursday’s De Anza Division game. Alyce Jorgensen improved to 10-2 by pitching a complete game, yielding four hits, striking out seven and allowing no earned runs. Jorgensen and fellow junior Sara Bird each had three hits for first-place Los Altos (4-0, 12-2).
St. Francis 10, Sacred Heart 0
Mollie Hoo pitched a one-hitter Thursday in St. Francis’ home shutout of Sacred Heart Prep. Hoo improved to 2-0 in the West Catholic Athletic League and the Lancers upped their record to 2-2 in league, 7-5 overall.
Lorin Doran slugged a home run and finished with four RBIs. Jennifer Bragato hit a triple and drove in a pair of runs. Bragato and Val Pease each had three hits.
Gunn 9. Cupertino 5
Lauren Anke’s three-run double in the eighth allowed Gunn to win its SCVAL El Camino Division opener April 2.
Ashley Gardner followed with a run-scoring double for good measure. Claire Cruz earned the win, striking out nine and walking five.
Homestead 3, Palo Alto 0
Homestead prevailed on the strength of Karen Purdy’s arm and the bats of Jessica Allemandi and Andrea Shields April 2
Purdy pitched a complete-game, limiting Paly to six hits. Allemandi belted a homer in the El Camino Division game; Shields had two hits for the Mustangs (2-1).
