Lax defensive effort leads to double loss

Runs were plentiful on the softball field, but the Comets still lost a pair of games as errors led to the downfall of the team, 20-8 and 11-9, respectively, against Chabot College on Feb 18.

Contra Costa College (4-8 overall) continued its Bay Valley Conference-leading batting showcase against Chabot College (6-5 overall), scoring more than its 7.5 runs per game average in each game of the doubleheader.

Despite the solid hitting, Comet coach Otis Yelverton and his squad agreed fielding errors were detrimental to the team.

"We're leading the conference in hitting," Yelverton said. "We're also leading the conference in errors."

Plus, the team allowed 15 hits in the first game and 12 in the second.

With the exception of the 20-8 loss to the Gladiators, the Comets' games have been fairly close this season.

The softball team's next game is at American River College on Tuesday at 1 p.m.

Yelverton said the team has lost half of its games during the final innings and in the second game of the doubleheader against Chabot, it happened again.

CCC held a strong 6-2 lead after four innings, but the squad gave up three runs in the fifth, four in the sixth and two in the seventh.

Comet catcher Krystyna Fisher said after their horrendous outing in the first game, she and her teammates took a mentally focused approach in the second.

She also said fatigue played a bit of a factor in their losses. The doubleheader was the team's fifth and sixth games during the week of Feb. 5.

Comet outfielder Myeshia Ellison said the team's 2012 woes are being remedied through fundamental drills during practice.

"(Lately) our practices have been good. We just need to concentrate on fundamental plays," Ellison said. "There's no ‘element of surprise' in softball. When the ball is coming we need to catch the ball and stop making sloppy throws."

Fisher said the coaching staff now has the players hitting live pitches in practice to keep their batting sharp and to increase their defensive mechanics, the Comets have been fielding grounders.