The article below originally appeared in the San Mateo Daily Journal and is being reprinted with permission.
College of San Mateo is coming off quite a week on the softball diamond.
Lola Sierra
The week started with a boost as freshman pitcher Lola Sierra was named the California Community College Fastpitch Coaches’ Association Pitcher of the Week after posting a 2-0 record for the week of Feb. 15-21. Things got ever better after the Bulldogs entered the week with 17 wins to start the season, matching last year’s 17-0 mark. CSM went on to record two home wins Saturday — 3-2 over College of the Siskiyous and 11-0 over College of the Sequoias — to surpass last season’s start.
When the reigning state champs take the field Wednesday at home against Sierra College, they will look to run the record to 20 straight wins to open the season. CSM has won 35 straight games dating back to last season.
CSM’s 18th win was a comeback thriller, with the Bulldogs overcoming a late 2-0 deficit with one run in the fifth and two more in the sixth. Sophomore catcher Love Cabanas led off the sixth with a solo home run to tie it, her fifth of the year. Sophomore first baseman Katie Johnson followed with a double, and later scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of freshman shortstop Peyton Huber.
Sophomore two-way standout Nia Mapa earned the win, allowing two runs on six hits through six innings of work. Sierra set down the side in order in the seventh to earn the save.
In the doubleheader nightcap against Sequoias, the Bulldogs scored in each of their four at-bats to to record a mercy-rule win. Mapa led the way with a 3-for-3 line at the plate, with a double and a homer. Mapa now has 11 homers on the year, good for second in the state.
Sophomore Hannah Ames hit a two-run home run, freshman Selena Gonzales added a solo homer, and Johnson went yard with a three-run shot. Sierra worked four shutout innings to earn the win, improving her record to 8-0.
First pitch Wednesday on the Hilltop is scheduled for 2 p.m.
