Yuba Softball swings away at a tough season

This year’s Yuba College women’s softball team is small yet fierce. The ten player team, made up mostly of freshman, has a tough season ahead of them but is ready for the challenge. Head Coach, Stephanie Reynolds said, “We only have two returning players. We are a young team, but all the girls are pretty well experienced.”

Due to changes in the division of conferences this season, Yuba will be forced to face much larger schools then previous seasons. This is a challenge that has plagued many of the Yuba College athletic teams this year.

“It’s a tough conference,” Reynolds said. “Last year the teams were all pretty balanced because the conference was split up by weak to strong. This year we have been split up geographically, so it’s a lot harder.”

While Reynolds is not predicting a conference championship at this time, she does have high hopes for the team and is setting some tough goals for them. She said, “I would like us to finish with a 500 record. Because we are in a conference with a lot of Sacramento schools with large populations, it’s going to be a big challenge.”

Reynolds plans to accomplish this with some promising talent from many of the incoming freshman. She identified freshman pitcher, Niesji Estrada from Biggs High School, and first year player, Beverley Baker as players who could be vital to the team’s success. She expects these girls to fill the places of Kibbie La’Chopper and Marie Savoda, both two year players unable to participate this season.

These girls, along with the rest of the team, will be put to the test during a tough March schedule in which they will meet all of the teams that Reynolds has identified as the hard hitting competition. “Its going to be a toss up between Delta College, Sac City, and Sierra College,” Reynolds said. “They are all really good teams.”

Yuba’s next game will be Saturday, February 21 against Mendocino College at 1 and 3pm. They will then compete in the Sierra Tournament on February 28-29 in Sacramento.