The crisp spring air lingered above the Foothill Technology High School (Foothill Tech) girls’ softball team on March 21, 2024, as they went head-to-head against cross-town rival St. Bonaventure High School (Bonnie) at the Dragons home field, Ventura College. After a hard-fought battle, the Dragons couldn’t fend off Bonnie, and the night ended with a loss of 1-19.

The match had a fiery start as the Dragons were determined to establish their dominance early on, and had high hopes of securing another win for the season. Unfortunately, the first inning proved to be an uphill battle for Foothill Tech as Kyra Bouchard ‘27 started as pitcher for the Dragons.

Bonnie seized the lead early at the top of the first with several long balls beyond the range of the Dragons. Striking out the Seraphs proved to be a difficult feat with Bonnie, as they captured an early lead of 0-4.

Natali Rodriguez ‘26 briefly touched on their performance in the beginning parts of the game, stating, “Our chemistry was great, everyone was talking out there.”

At the bottom of the first, Foothill Tech set out to match Bonnie’s aggression on the field to little success. After an unfortunate strike out from Foothill Tech’s lead-off hitter, Bouchard, two more outs followed suit, which quickly closed off the first inning as the score remained 0-4.

As the game moved forward to the top of the second, the Seraphs furthered their lead to 0-8 with several well-hit line drives and well-timed stolen bases. Despite being down by eight points, the Dragons gave it their all on the field, but would once again get knocked out early as they struggled to connect with the ball.

Bonnie’s momentum continued to the top of the third as they scored an additional four points, as they drew their mounting lead over the Dragons to 0-12. In the latter half of the third, Foothill Tech quickly realized they needed to make a move to give themselves a chance at winning.

Foothill Tech’s Tyler Trigo ‘25 got off a successful line drive down center field and seized first base for the Dragons, and with a deep hit into left field by Bouchard, Trigo made it home, which put the Dragons on the board but they trailed behind, 1-12.

Starting the fourth inning, the Dragons fended off Bonnie, only having brought one runner home before the Dragons could shut them down, 1-13. However, the bottom of the fourth proved unsuccessful for the Dragons, as they were unable to advance to first base with a speedy three strikeouts from Bonnie’s pitcher.

This dominating position over Foothill Tech continued through the fifth inning. With several impressive plays from Zoey Watkins ‘26 and Trigo at the bottom of the inning, they still couldn’t work towards closing the gap, ending the inning down, 1-19.

With Foothill Tech down by an 18-point deficit, a mercy ruling was put in place which concluded the game with a final score of 1-19, Bonnie.

Head coach Mark Young commented on the team’s performance on the heels of the loss, “I’m so proud and so happy with my pitchers full stop … We stayed together as a team. We put some good hits together.”

With the coach’s and teams’ positive mindset, they went into their next game against Santa Clara High School on March 22, 2024, as they looked for redemption on their home turf.