The Lady Jaguars upset the No. 1 ranked team in California, the College of San Mateo, 15-9 on Tuesday, April 1, showing they were not fooling around.
After winning three previous games, the team came into the game Tuesday with a “nothing-to-lose” attitude, sophomore center fielder Krystal Rock said.
“We knew we had nothing to lose, we just wanted to go out and beat the No. 1 ranked team in the state,” Rock said.
The Jags ranked ninth out of Northern California’s top 10 teams in a poll taken by the CCCAA, or California Community College Athletic Association, on March 10.
After losing to Coast North Conference rival Ohlone College 7-5 on Tuesday, March 18, San Jose City College dropped out of the top 10 according to the March 21 CCCAA poll.
Head Coach Debbie Huntze-Rooney decided to have freshman pitcher Alex Hernandez in the pitching circle against San Mateo.
Hernandez faced three batters, walked two batters and gave up a bases-clearing triple to give San Mateo a 2-0 lead early in the first.
Sophomore pitcher Gianna Cavallaro completed the game, surrendering 12 hits and seven runs in six innings.
Huntze-Rooney said the the team had each other’s backs.
“We had a good feeling from the start even though we gave up three runs in the first,” Huntze-Rooney said. “We had a never-give-up attitude and they knew how to stay together as a team.”
The score was back-and-forth for most of the game. By the end of the sixth inning the game was tied 8-8 with the Jaguars’ batting in the top half of the seventh inning.
The Jags rallied back with six hits, seven runs and three home runs from the sophomore trio of Rock, third baseman Nicole Read and catcher Treasure Rodriguez. They finished with 20 hits and 15 runs.
“The Jags took away that if they play the way they did against San Mateo, anything is possible in the future,” Huntze-Rooney said.
The Jags continued play Saturday, April 5 when they hosted Fresno City College Owls in doubleheader action at Lady Jags Field. After adding another to their four game winning streak to five with a 10-6 win, then ending the streak the same day in a 7-6 loss to the visiting Lady Owls.
