By Travon Nesbit
Western Sun staff writer
The Rustlers softball team just couldn’t shake their losing streak, losing 9-1 to the Cypress Chargers on Wednesday, April 25, ending the game after only five innings to close out their season with seven consecutive losses.
“We lost a few players to ineligibility…the season did not turn out as we had hoped when we started in the fall,” said GWC Head Coach Suzy Brazney. “But I believe the girls learned that you can work hard and prepare the best you can, but you aren’t always successful. Sometimes you just need one little thing to go your way to turn everything around.”
Golden West started relatively strong in the first inning preventing Cypress from scoring in the first inning with Tanya Dowler catching two pop flies in left field. The Rustlers then proceeded to score once with Naelani Pereda bringing in Lauren Austengo. Unfortunately for the Rustlers, it was its only score in the game and things only went downhill from there.
In the third inning, Cypress’s Arren Nuñez hit a home run that brought in Jessica Reichner and herself. With five runs in the inning, the Chargers jumped out to a substantial lead that the Rustlers were unable to claw back from.
In the fifth, Sarah Van Valkenburg bunted a grounder that proved to be the third and final out of the inning, but even though she knew the game was over at that point she jogged back to the dugout with a huge, glowing smile on her face.
“She was smiling because she made contact when she hadn’t batted for over a month, she broke her hand in early March and missed all but the last three games,” Brazney said.
The Rustlers finished the 2012 season with a 9-25 overall record with a 4-17 record in conference play.
