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Sports

Uni Softball Squad Off to Slow Start

The Wildcats fall to 0-2 in the Western League with a loss to Palisades.

Considering how his team fared last spring, University High softball coach Rudy Sanchez might sound unrealistic when he says he believes his team can finish "at least" third in the Western League this season.

Though he knows his squad is in a rebuilding phase, Sanchez remains optimistic that his Wildcats have enough talent to compete with the league's best, especially now that perennial frontrunner Westchester appears to be in a rebuilding mode of its own. 

"We were fifth in league last year I expect us to finish third or higher this year," Sanchez said. "Even though we only won four games [last season] and we're very young, I have high hopes. We were like a fish out of water last year so we should be much improved."

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Westchester has been the team to beat in the Western League for years, but the Comets have fallen back to the pack this season after an 0-3 start that included an 11-3 drubbing at the hands of Palisades in their league opener.

On Thursday night, University got its crack at Palisades and scored 12 runs, but that wasn't nearly enough in the Wildcats' 22-12 defeat that dropped them to 1-5 overall and 0-2 in league.

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Left fielder Samantha Coronado had a big night for University, driving a pitch to the center field fence for an inside-the-park home run in the sixth inning and going three-for-five with a triple and two RBIs. 

It looked like the Wildcats would make a game of it early when they plated three runs in the first inning, but Palisades responded with three in the bottom half, then tacked on seven runs over the next three frames to open a 10-3 lead.

"Our offense is definitely the strength of our team--we can hit with anyone," Sanchez said. "The problem is that our defense hasn't shown up yet."

The Dolphins (4-1-1) had 10 hits and drew 20 walks, led by freshman Taleigh Williams, who hit a grand slam home run in the sixth inning.

University took its lumps in its first few games at the Lincoln Classic but did post an impressive 19-3 victory over South Gate. In their league opener versus Venice the Wildcats once again scored plenty of runs, but lost 13-12.

"We can't always rely on our offense, we have to be able to shut the other team down sometimes," Sanchez said. "We haven't put everything together for one game yet. That's what I want to see us do."

The Wildcats host league rival Hamilton on March 28 and Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies on March 30, both at 3 p.m. on the University campus.

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