Reclaimed: Vars girls softball takes back their title of champions
By Kate Green and Sofia Woo
San Francisco State University’s softball field was loud and rowdy on May 15, as Lowell teachers, family members, coaches and supporting friends filled the venue to watch the varsity girls’ softball team play against the Balboa Buccaneers. The Cardinals brought home this year’s All-City championship in a 7–4 win after last year’s upset against the Washington Eagles. The team felt confident about how they performed. “We really came together as a team. Last year we had a lot of talent, however, it didn’t play together as well,” senior captain and pitcher Kelly Lai said. “This year I’m really proud of the teamwork we’ve brought to the program.”
Winning the championship was a bittersweet moment for Lai, who is graduating this year. “I think [I’ll miss] our players and being able to play with people that I really like,” Lai said.
The game wasn’t without a few bumps in the road. At the top of the fifth inning, the catcher threw out a Bucchaneer. After some discussion, the umpire called the Balboa player safe, which led to a small argument. By the bottom of the fifth inning, however, the team came back strong after huddling together and yelling “fix this!” “There were a couple of errors at the end which made my heart race, but we were really aggressive and called pitches really well,” Lai said.
The Cardinals were ecstatic from winning the game. The whole team huddled up together and hugged. Head coach Sascha Ray picked up Lai and swung her around. Afterwards, assistant principal Margaret Peterson, along with athletic director and assistant coach Robert Ray, led the medal ceremony.
Later, Lowell went on to the Transbay Championship where the team played against the Oakland Tech Bulldogs on May 17–18 at San Francisco State University and Chabot College, respectively. The Cardinals won 7–2 on the 17th and 7–5 the next day.
