The Cerritos College softball team won their second home game of the season against Glendale 14-1, lasting only five innings, instead of the normal seven.
Tuesday’s game ended with a very meaningful win for head coach Kodee Murray. She has now surpassed former head coach Nancy Kelly’s 502 wins.
Murray said, “Nancy Kelly is a pioneer of this sport, she is the reason why I even have the opportunity to break a record, or have a record.
“She is a person who fought for equal rights back in the time when females were not really given the same. So, to beat Nancy Kelly’s record is bittersweet […], said Murray.
Murray continued her sentiments, saying, “I’m so glad the field is named after her because her legacy is bigger than her 500 wins, her legacy is bigger than the games, it was the fight to have the programs that we have today.” [sic]
Players from the team spoke on the record breaking win.
Freshman, Pitcher No. 20 Sierra Gerdts says, “I think it’s exciting, it’s not often when stuff like that happens, so when your own coach breaks a record from the lady who’s [name is] on the scoreboard, that’s something big and I’m happy for her.”
Freshman, Outfielder No. 23 Nicoal Magdaleno said, “She really deserves it, she works so hard day in and day out for softball.
“She’s always trying to figure out a way to help us so we don’t get something [wrong]. I hope we keep breaking more records for her,” said Magdaleno.
Sophomore, Infielder No. 33 Rain Vega says, “I’m pretty honored, because that’s a big number 503. I think that’s pretty cool that my name will be on that ball… we gave her a ball that said 503 [sic]
“When she looks back at it, years from now she’ll remember that and I’ll always remember that, that I was apart of this team and all these girls were apart of this team making it happen,” said Vega
Although, the team stood their ground and won the game, Murray said, there are always areas to improve on overall. “We make a lot of mistakes and do a lot of things that aren’t going to get us where we want to be at the end,” said Murray.
She also said the team needs to improve on everything. They need to improve on their hitting as well as their defense. Murray said, “[There are] a lot of areas that we’ve got to do better in, in order to be able to compete to go through.”
Murray stated, “Each game is separate, we’re gonna get better…we’re getting better little by little. We just need more games. We need to play more games and have more experience and move in that direction.”
Vega felt she performed decent and there’s definitely things she can improve on personally.
Overall, Vega said that they did a great job of going out on the field and getting it done, but there’s a few “kinks” they need to iron out.
Vega is very confident and hopeful that the team will make conference.
She said, “The more we keep our energy up, making sure that we’re playing for each other, rather than for ourselves…I know that we’re gonna do plenty of things. We have the talent sitting right here.”
This being Vega’s last season she is hoping to take conference. “That would be a really cool way to go out,” said Vega.
Magdaleno is proud of her performance as this was her first time being the designated hitter.
Although she was “pretty nervous,” Magdaleno said she did pretty well as she went “2 for 4” and was very happy she hit a double.
Magdaleno said she hopes to become the designated hitter and she hopes as a team they can continue to hit “bombs” in games like they do in practice.
The players and the coaching staff try to reach their highest capability each season.
Murray believes, “This team has all the potential in the world.”
She said, “We have a lot of freshmen on this team and they’re playing key positions.”
Murray elaborated, “When you’re doing that and you have freshmen in key positions and you’re demanding things that they’re never really had demanded from em’ [sic], it’s a learning curve that we’re going through and we’ll get it because you don’t put in the time that we’re putting in to not be the best you can be.”
The Cerritos College softball team has their next home match on Feb. 8, against Mt. San Antonio College.
