Gallery • 3 Photos

Yearbook Staff Photographer

L-R Spartan pitcher Kailani Tatro, Pinole major Vincent Salimi, and Spartan catcher Briana Swihart.

Recovering from a tough and surprising loss against Alhambra on Monday, Pinole Valley bounced back and rolled right through the Jessie Bethel Jaguars in Tuesday’s softball game, beating them 18-0. While Monday’s loss did dethrone our Lady Spartans from first place in the North Coast Section, Coach Tatro offered some insight as to how that loss could be a big learning point for the team moving forward. He believes, “It wasn’t actually a bad thing that they lost,” as they seemed to be “assuming they were going to win every game,” when that just isn’t the case. Hopefully, this lesson served as a reminder that winning isn’t always easy and that it will aid them in their goal of, “getting deeper into NCS.” Coach Tatro is confident in his team moving forward and “expects to win all our regular games.” And with a potential league MVP pitcher, Kailani Tatro, alongside five other potential all-league players, the near future is looking bright for PV softball. Ms. Tatro along with Briana Swihart, Vanessa Castaneda, Melina Mendoza, Dominique DeLosReyes, and Aneesa Brewer all give PV a great chance at bringing home a league championship.

The whole team made it an exciting game for Pinole Valley fans with everyone getting a hit, but there were a few key contributors to tonight’s win. Kailani Tatro had a fantastic game tonight at pitcher with 8 strikeouts only giving up two hits and no runs across five innings. Melina Mendoza went 3 for 3, including a double, and got 4 total bases. Dominique DeLosReyes went 2 for 2, smashing two doubles, and had four total bases. Aneesa Brewer scored a double and had three total bases. And Briana Swihart blasted a three-run triple for our Lady Spartans. The Swingin’ Spartans were truly on a roll tonight.
Today wasn’t just a big comeback day for the Lady Spartans, but it also represented a union between politics and sports here in the city of Pinole. Mayor Vincent Salimi threw out the first pitch at today’s game and claimed it to be a “wonderful experience,” that he’s glad he got to share with a “wonderful team,” in a “wonderful city.” He added that the sport of softball is a great sport for “shaping the female youth in America,” and offered these final words of encouragement for our team: “I wish you the best and I know that you will be very successful. The entire city is behind you and we couldn’t be more proud.”

These girls make softball an exciting sport even for people who know absolutely nothing about it. Scoring big hits multiple times a game and hardly giving their opponents a chance, the atmosphere created by this team is one I will not be forgetting anytime soon so come on down and watch them. I enjoyed it, and you will too!