This article has been changed. See editor’s note below.
The Malibu High School (MHS) Sharks softball team has come a long way in the batter’s box.
Sharks’ batters struggled swinging the bat over home plate three seasons ago, but this season, the squad’s bats have had some pop.
Malibu senior Xena Amirani said she and her teammates have come a long way.
“We really try to have discipline in the batter’s box — prior to that we would just go up and hit and maybe have an occasional bunt,” the third baseman said. “It was really rare that we would have different hitting techniques. We have come very far and are able to do things we wanted to do.”
The Sharks had 17 hits in their 17-7 win over the Santa Barbara Dons last Saturday at MHS. Senior Emma Gallagher led the Sharks at the plate with three hits, two runs and six RBIs. Senior Rachel McConnell had three hits, two runs and four RBIs. Other Sharks who had hits, runs and RBIs were seniors Amirani, Molly Gallagher and Hali Norris, freshman Amelia Goudzwaard and sophomore Sydney Stern.
The Sharks have been hitting the ball well almost all of the young softball season. MHS has 36 hits and 43 runs on the season through their win over Santa Barbara.
The win over the Dons was Malibu’s fourth of the year. Malibu opened the season with a 19-1 win over Animo Venice on March 3. The Sharks beat Viewpoint, 4-1, on April 5 after a loss to Thousand Oaks. Malibu knocked off Grace Brethren, 19-2, on April 7. Malibu had three losses as of last Saturday.
McConnell credits the Sharks energy at the plate for their ability to rack up hits.
“Once you get into the motion of winning and as long as you keep your energy level high, you are going to keep scoring runs,” the shortstop said.
MHS Coach Mark Cooley said the Sharks started the season well, but is expecting the season to take a difficult turn once Malibu is in the teeth of Frontier League play.
The fourth-year Malibu coach said a lot of the teams Malibu plays against have players who compete in softball almost all year, whereas traditional Malibu players only took the diamond in the spring. That changed heading into this season. Malibu played in fall and winter softball leagues and excelled.
“We put in some off-season work. It had never been done before in the history of the school,” Cooley said. “We faired pretty well.”
Goudzwaard said playing softball in what is normally the offseason helped the Sharks.
“It prepared us for what we are going to face in league and allowed us a chance to get our defense and offense down, along with our hitting,” she said.
Norris, McConnell, Amirani and the Gallagher sisters have all played for Cooley the past four years. He said the quintet has improved play from their freshman year and sparks the team.
“The difference between when I first got them in to now is unbelievable to the mind,” he said. “It’s night and day. When they first came in they could barely catch and throw the ball.”
Amirani said she and her teammates have improved their communication skills on the diamond, which is key to success.
Against Santa Barbara, Malibu scored two runs in the first inning, seven runs in the second inning, four runs in the third inning and one run in the fifth. Molly got the pitching win for the Sharks and had four strikeouts.
The Dons seven scores happened in the fifth inning courtesy of some errors by the Sharks.
McConnell said the win was good.
“We kind of fell apart in the fifth inning, but we were able to rebound and keep our momentum,” she said.
Cooley said the win was a momentum builder for the rest of the season.
“We came off a couple of games where we were flat because of our energy level,” he said. “Today, our energy level came up and it’s all about making the basic plays consistently.”
Cooley said the 10-member Sharks’ goal is to finish the season with a record of .500 or better.
“I have yet to see a school record that would dictate the softball program being over .500,” Cooley said. “My goal is to at least break the .500 record or exceed. We want to do something that has never been done before.”
Malibu senior Jennifer Goday has hopes the team makes the CIF playoffs.
“I definitely think we can make it there,” the leftfielder said.
Editor’s note: The spelling of Amelia Goudzwaard’s last name has been changed.