Despite losing seven of their first eight games at the start of the season, the De Anza College softball team finished strong to the end beating Chabot College with a score of 11-4 on Thursday, April 17 and defeating Mission College 5-1 on Tuesday, April 22.

The team finished 11-19 overall with seven wins at home, two on the road and two on a neutral field.

In 2013, the Dons were 21-16 overall and had 10 wins at home.

The Dons dropped in almost every statiscal category this season which made them successful in 2013.

Batting average is down 33 points from .305 to .272, number of hits dropped from 316 to 230 and the extra base hit count dropped by 68 hits from 93 to 25.

But the down year from the Dons didn’t demoralize the optimism the team gained in experience over the course of the  season. Now that the season is over, the players and coaches took away the positives.

Freshman outfielder Victoria Grizzle said that most of the players in the team, including herself, are freshmen and lacked experience on the college fields. But that didn’t stop them from performing on the field regardless of the inexperience.

“The other teams were older and more experienced (than us),” Grizzle said. “Next year we will do better, because we (have) gained experience this season.”

The inexperience on the team had its benefits. Freshman pitcher Jade Teruya, Grizzle, second baseman Claire Cali, and third baseman Caitlyn Shannon stood out as players to look out for in 2015.

Teruya threw a complete game against Mission in the last game of the season, giving up only one run on three hits and striking out two batters. As a position player, Teruya collected a .356 batting average, 32 hits, 10 RBIs and 21 runs scored.

Cali had the highest batting average (.429) on the team. She also led the team in hits (42) while getting eight RBIs and scoring 18 runs.

Head Coach Rachel Pacheco said that every player worked hard during the whole season and that the team has lots of potential moving forward.

The Dons best games were played at home beating Mission College 12-3 on March 8, and San Francisco 6-0 on March 10.

In the game against Mission College, Teruya and freshman pitcher Lauren Matias scored a combined five runs for the Dons. Matias allowed only four hits with one walk and one run to the opposition to perserve the victory.

Against San Francisco, the Dons’ defense and a pitching gem by Matias prevented the opposition from scoring any runs.

The team’s strength lies in their defense, performing well in pitching and fielding. The one aspect the Dons lacked this season was an offense that matched their defenses.

The Dons will be looking forward to next season with an experienced group of sophomores at the ready.

“We’re moving on to next year,” Pacheco said, “and should be much better.”