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By Vanessa Overbeck
By Vanessa Overbeck
The Tiger fastpitch team may not be going to playoffs, but they didn’t end the season without honors.Sophomore second baseman Cassondra Hemsley was named to the All Orange Empire Conference First Team. Fellow sophomores shortstop Melissa Ascencio and pitcher Alexandra Ariaz joined her with honors on the second team.”Making all conference is a high honor because players are voted on by other coaches,” head coach Michelle Daddona-Moya said. “All three players performed well in league and they all had good seasons. I thought they were definitely deserving of the award.”Five Riverside Community College Tigers also made the list of the top Orange Empire Conference batting leaders. Freshman Arinn Godoy was the top ranked Tiger hitter with a batting average of .381.Hemsley followed only one point behind her and Ascencio made the list with a batting average of .322. Outfielders Shalyn Skahill and Alicia Villalobos also finished among the top league hitters.Alexandra Ariaz was ranked as the sixth best pitcher in the Orange Empire Conference. She finished the season with an earned run average of 2.37 while throwing the second most innings of any pitcher in the conference.The Tigers began their last week of fastpitch play with a 7-9 record. They split their last two games bringing their record to 8- 10. The Tigers lost 2-0 to the first seeded team Cypress College on April 25 and defeated the Orange Coast Pirates in a 5-0 victory the following day.The Chargers held the Tigers scoreless, but outfielder Tiffanie Pittman batted .500 and Hemsley hit 2-3. Third baseman Breann Mead was the only other Tiger to earn a hit against the Chargers’ dominating pitcher, Marissa Gonzalez, who was named the conference’s Most Valuable Pitcher. Gonzalez’s wicked pitching also forced the Tigers to leave five runners on base.In their final game against the Pirates, RCC earned five runs on five hits and two errors. Partners in crime shortstop Ascencio and second baseman Hemsley each racked up doubles.Mead and designated hitter Cynthia Vertiz landed balls over the outfield fence for home runs. Pitcher Ariaz only gave up two hits and left the Pirates scoreless to finish off this bumpy but exciting ride for the Tigers.Daddona-Moya enjoyed coaching the Tigers this season for all their highs and lows. She felt the low point of the season came midway through when RCC found itself 6-15.But the Tigers didn’t quit and they improved upon their first half of play with an 11-9 record in the second half of the season.”We got behind early on. Most teams probably would’ve folded, but we turned it around,” Daddona-Moya said. “Most teams did about the same in both the first half and the second half of the season. No one made the climb that we did.”The highlight of the season for Daddona-Moya was the Tigers’ defeat of the No. 1 seeded team in Northern California. At the Golden West Tournament, March 11-13, the Tigers defeated West Valley College in a one-run ball game.”I attribute that win to the girls knowing they were better and not wanting to give in,” Daddona-Moya said.
