Although their chances of getting into the playoffs came to an end weeks ago, the Burlingame and Aragon softball teams sought to end their seasons on a positive note on Senior Night Thursday.
As Burlingame senior Megan Ailand approached the mound for the last time in her high school career, she hoped to give a stellar performance. By the end of the game, she did just that in a 5-0 Panther victory.
In the first inning Ailand got out a jam after a triple to right field with one out. In the next at-bat, Dons junior Nicole Horita hit a pop fly to Panther senior shortstop Nicki Lunghi. When the cleanup hitter approached the plate for Aragon, Ailand found her rhythm. After throwing three consecutive fastballs, Ailand struck out the batter and walked off the mound with her head held high.
“I’m really proud of how I pitched today,” Ailand said.
Burlingame took a 1-0 lead in the second on Melissa Guevara's run-scoring triple to left field.
During the bottom of the fourth, Burlingame increased its lead. After a costly error and a trio of hits, the Panthers crossed the plate three times to go ahead 4-0.
Despite the somewhat comfortable lead, Burlingame coach Douglas McKeever decided to let Ailand throw one more inning. Although she surrendered one more hit, she got out of the inning without surrendering a run.
After the Panthers tacked on another run in the bottom half of the fifth, McKeever elected to replace Ailand on the mound with junior Raine Armanino. Armanino kept the Dons off of the board to help nail down the victory.
Following the conclusion of the game and the season, Aragon coach Joe Sparaco said the Panthers simply outplayed his team.
“They [Burlingame] were pounding the ball,” Sparaco said. “They were hitting well.”
Throughout the course of the year, Aragon has suffered from injuries and lack of experience. Perhaps its greatest loss was an injury to its ace pitcher. As a result, the Dons finished the year with a 1-9 record in the Peninsula Athletic League-Bay and a 5-17 overall record. Despite a rough year, Sparaco thinks his team can succeed in the future.
“If we had been more prolific on offense, we could have won,” Sparaco said. “We have to bring everybody’s batting up.”
Although Burlingame closed out the year with three consecutive wins, it was not enough to clinch an automatic spot in the playoffs. The Panthers will hope to get in as an at-large team, but either way, many players hope to use this season as a learning experience for next year.
“I feel like we just need to bond earlier [in the year],” Armanino said.
Since the team will be losing five seniors, McKeever will have to rely on underclassmen like freshman Kat Marcan and sophomore Rachel Topper.
