The Bakersfield College softball team has started out the season with a record of 8-6.
The Renegades started out the season with a 9-2 win against Taft. The Renegades then had a doubleheader with with Fresno City on Feb. 7, in which they won the first game 4-3 but lost the second game 6-1.
On Feb. 9-10, the Renegades headed to the Green & Gold tournament in Irvine, in which they lost three out of four games.
Their lone win was a 24-0 victory over Southwestern.
After the tournament, they faced off against Oxnard on Feb. 12 and they lost 6-3.
On Feb. 14, the Renegades took on Santa Barbara City College. In their game against Santa Barbara, sophomore catcher Katie Sawyer hit a two-run home run and freshman infielder Celina Cruz hit a one-run double to give the Renegades a 3-0 lead at the end of the first inning.
With Santa Barbara leading 5-4 going into the bottom of the sixth inning, the Renegades bounced back to score eight runs and escape with a 12-5 victory.
“We’re pretty capable of busting open with some runs when we get our bats hot,” head coach Sandi Taylor said of the eight-run sixth inning.
The weekend of Feb. 16-17 brought yet another tournament for the Renegades, this time it was the COS tournament in Visalia.
During the COS tournament, the Renegades won 3 out of 4 games, beating College of the Sequoias 5-1, Laney College 13-1 and Porterville 9-3.
Their lone loss was 4-0 against Cypress. ” It was a good tournament. We played against good teams. Our loss was to Cypress who finished third in the state last year. We gave up one big hit to them (Cypress) but other than that we played pretty good,” said Taylor.
Taylor added that the idea is to build off of the success that the team had at the tournament. On Feb. 19, BC beat Hancock 18-0.
Taylor, who is entering her 18th season as coach of the Renegades, said that the main goal for this year’s team is to make the playoffs, but added, “We have to play solid defense and hit the ball, and if we do those two things we will be successful. ”
The Renegades have six players returning to this year’s team. They are: Outfielders Rachele Flores and Heather Spoon, infielders Natalie Martinez and Deborah Salcido, catcher Katie Sawyer, and pitcher Jenny Zavolosieck.
The Renegades play Feb. 21 at Moorpark at 2:30 p.m.
The Renegades will host the BC Classic Feb. 23-24. Five teams will be involved. BC faces Cypress at 1 p.m. Feb. 23.