BHS Softball: Aztecs' players relish second chance
BARSTOW • No one believed the news when it began to spread.
The members of the Barstow High School softball team put off the whispers of a second playoff life as an unfounded rumor when they began to hear early Friday morning that their playoff run might not be done.
After all, second chances in a single-elimination tournament are about as common as a Chicago Cubs World Series title.
When news that the Aztecs were moving on in the CIF-Southern Section Division V playoffs because Calvary Murrieta violated a batting practice rule was confirmed, the disbelief quickly turned to tears and excitement.
“My dad texted me,” said senior shortstop Alyssa Maldonado, whose father Frank is an assistant coach with the team. “I was in an assembly, and I just got a text message. I showed (senior catcher) Cayla (Schreiner) and we started crying.
“I was really sad all day. When that happened I was extremely happy.”
Junior outfielder Andrea Kolwyck said she began to shake and cry.
Less than 24 hours after they thought their season was finished, the Aztecs were back to work at practice Friday afternoon, preparing to face Western High School in the second round of the CIF-SS Division V tournament at 3:15 p.m. on Tuesday.
For a second chance at playoff glory, schedules were rearranged. Maldonado canceled a tee time to play golf, senior third baseman Erica Carrion called off from work and all were happy to do so.
“Oh my gosh, it’s pretty amazing,” Maldonado said. “If you’re not a senior, you get next year. That is your second chance. For us this is a very amazing thing, a once-in-a-lifetime thing.
“Since we are given a second chance, it’s like a sign. This is a sign we are going to win this time. We are going to make it.”
Although the Aztecs lost just 4-0 to the No. 1 seeded team in the tournament, players and coaches said it wasn’t their best effort. The Warriors scored several unearned runs due to errors while Barstow left nine runners on base.
“I think we were just unlucky,” Carrion said. “We hit to their people and didn’t baserun as smart as we could have.”
Maldonado sympathized with the Calvary Murrieta players but said the Aztecs are happy to have their second chance.
“For them to have it end like that, I feel really bad,” Maldonado said. “Imagine how they must feel? They won. They beat us. I think that really sucks for them, but it’s good for us.”
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