Varsity softball loses to Castilleja on senior night

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Varsity girls’ softball lost to Castilleja 2-10 at their Senior Night on May 12 at Blackford. In the second time they played the CCS-bound Castilleja, the team scored runs by Alisa Wakita (11), who stole home in the first inning, and Marti Sutton (10), who reached home off of a hit by Tong Wu (11).

Other highlights included doubles batted in by Marti Sutton and Kristin LeBlanc (9), a catch by center fielder Brianna Liang and a double out play by Alisa Wakita and Vivian Isenberg (12).

The team had an early 1-0 lead in the first inning, but Castilleja surpassed them in the top of the second inning with two runs. Harker scored their second run in the fourth inning, closing the gap to one run. Castilleja scored seven times after that.

In the pre-game ceremony on the diamond, seniors Sarah Bean, Vivian Isenberg, Brianna Liang, Madelyn Wang and Serena Wang each received flowers and a short speech from coach Raul Rios. Since senior Nitya Mani was unable to attend, her ceremony took place at a previous game.

Posters with slogans for each player, such as “Bri five fo fum, Brianna’s gonna get it done,” lined the dugout. In addition, student spectators created their own posters for the seniors and held them up when the team made a play.

“Senior Day is special because all seniors get to play whether they are starters or not,” Rios said. “The part I like best is after games we all sit in a circle and talk about what they thought about their softball experience was and you tend to get a lot of emotions and tears of joy.”

Kristin LeBlanc (9) was grateful for the seniors’ friendliness and openness throughout the season.

“I was the only freshman on the team, and it was pretty nice because the seniors were very kind to me,” Kristin said. “I would ask them the weirdest questions I could think of and they would let it loose and answer them.”

Sarah, the third baseman and one of the team captains, appreciated that the community came to their game.

“I loved seeing all of my friends and family come out to support us, teachers too,” she said.

The team’s season ended with a record of 9 wins and 9 losses. In addition to being the last game of the seniors’ high school career, this game was also assistant coach Ray Fowler’s last before he retires.