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By Chris Ullyott
Coach Michelle Daddona-Moya, upper left, shares a few words with the team after their victory against Los Angeles Valley College on Jan. 30. (Chris Ullyott)
By Chris Ullyott
This season has proven to be a long and laborious one for the women on RCC’s fastpitch team. With 10 wins on top of 14 losses so far, the team is looking to improve its standings for the conference games.
Coach Michelle Daddona-Moya and assistant coach Tami James are optimistic about their chances.
“Fastpitch has just come off of two tough seasons, but we’re seeing that change quite a bit,” Daddona-Moya said. This season’s team is made up of mostly new players, with only three returning players from last year.
“Our new players didn’t really know what to expect at the start of the season,” James said. “But through the course of the year, everyone’s made big improvements in their own unique ways.”
The team hopes to achieve an automatic bid in the conference with, of course, their continuous practice and conditioning.
“What we’re working on most is our defense,” Daddona-Moya said. “We’ve been making a few defensive errors. We do have an excellent offense, but you can’t always live off the hits.”
The coaches are strengthening the defense with drills designed to help the players ignore distractions. During practice, an assistant coach hits balls to the players on the field as the rest of their teammates scream and make plenty of noise, attempting to distract them from making clean catches and throws. Drills like these have helped keep the players focused during the games.
Daddona-Moya and James are
particularly proud of their team’s attitude during practice. “They have such a strong work ethic,” Daddona-Moya said. “We work so hard every day.”
“We just want to play well–to the best possible level we can,” James said. “That has really been our only goal.”
The coaches agree that the players have been enjoying themselves so far; most have become close friends.
