Huskies 2016 softball season ends

MONTEREY PARK, CA — The 2016 East Los Angeles College Huskies softball team’s season ended today with a hard-fought 7-4 South Coast Conference loss to Long Beach City College in front of the largest home crowd of the season.

The Huskies ended the season strong and outscored their opponents 61-37 in the month of April. ELAC ended the season with winning records in April (5-3) and March (11-9) after a slow start.

The Huskies finished 17-21 overall and 9-12 in the SCC. ELAC won four of seven SCC games in April that included a 12-4 win against Pasadena City College (20-20, 9-12). PCC was 1-7 during that time. As a result, ELAC ended the season tied for fourth place in the SCC with PCC.

ELAC was 5-4 in tournaments this year, which included a 12-4 upset win against then-ranked Saddleback College.

More wins against ranked teams included a 10-5 win on March 24 against the No. 9th-ranked team in the state, Cerritos College (28-12, 16-5) and a 4-3 win on April 12 against No. 10-ranked (SoCal) El Camino College (27-13, 15-6).

The Huskies blasted 10 hits in their final game against Long Beach. Freshman designated player Julie Muñoz (Warren HS) led the ELAC offense. She doubled, singled, and had two RBIs.

Sophomores first baseman Ashley Day (Alhambra HS) and catcher Joslyn Macias (California HS) each singled twice as did freshman right fielder Griselda Vasquez (Bell HS).

Sophomore left fielder Sujey Zamudio (Bell HS) singled and had two RBIs. Freshman center fielder Alexis Lazaro (Schurr HS) also singled.

Sophomore pitcher Byanka Diosdado (Schurr HS) ended the season throwing 138 strikes, 11th best in the state and second best in the SCC.  She finished with 14 wins this season, third best in the SCC. Last season Diosdado pitched the most innings in the state.

Day finished the season as the 17th best defensive player in the state. She had a .982 fielding percentage. Macias’ batting average was .378, 16th best among the 134 SCC athletes that began the softball season.

Sophomores recognized today included Sidney Alaniz (El Rancho HS), Day, Diosdado, Macias, Alizah Mayagoitia (Ramona Convent HS), Melanie Ruelas (Franklin HS) and Zamudio.

Although they played their last game as Huskies, they each have an opportunity to play on the softball field each year in the Alumni game usually held in January each year.

story submitted by Tadzio Garcia