Being ranked no. 3 in their division and no. 15 in the state, the Robinson softball team started their journey to the state finals. A team must begin their journey by starting with the district games. The Knights must play in the 4A District 11 games before advancing to regionals. Before the playoffs began, the team was 20-4, with a district win count of 4-0, making them the number one seed in the districts tournament.

On the 27 of April, the team played their semifinal game against the Bayshore Bruins, a team with a win: loss count of 5-7, ranking number 4 in the district. Despite being in their district, Robinson didn’t play Bayshore at all this year.

“I was not concerned about playing Bayshore… because I know our team is really good this year and…we can beat any team any day,” shortstop Candance Ripine (’22) said.

To start out the game, Jocelyn Campo (’22) was on the mound. The top of the inning didn’t last long, with only four batters coming up to the plate with the last two striking out.

The bottom of the inning is where the game got good, for Robinson at least. Jordan Stephens (’21) started the inning off strong with a double. There were many pass balls and overthrows which advanced runners around the bases. Destiny Dehoyos (’21) hit a line drive past the shortstop and into left field and Kohana Pousson (’23) hit a single in the gap between second base and right field. The inning ended during Alexis Lantrip’s (’21) at bat when Hall got caught stealing to third base. The score after the first inning was 4-0 Robinson.

The top of the second wasn’t much different than the first. Only four batters came up to the plate. During the first batter, a dribbler was hit by second basemen, J.C. Thaxton (’23). She bobbled the ball in her glove but managed to get them out at first. The last two batters were again struck out.

The bottom of the second started back up with Lantrip, but she popped out to the pitcher. Campo got struck in the helmet by a pitch and walked to first. Haley Magin (’22) ran for the pitcher. Since Campo’s at-bat was over, they returned to the top of the lineup. Stevens at-bat wasn’t even over and Magin stole every base and even made it home on a passed ball by the catcher.

The rest of the inning was full of walks, steals or pop-ups. Dehoyos smacked the ball over the fence near the end of the inning, a two-run home run. The inning ended with the batter behind her popping up. The score at the end of the second was 8-0 Robinson.

The top of the third saw good plays from Robinson. Campo dove for a ball a little off the mound and missed her glove. The runner from Bayshore thought she could keep going and try to get a double, but was thrown out at second before even reaching the other base. There was an attempt for a double play between Thaxton and Ripine, but they only got one out. They ended the top with a pop-out to Thaxton. Bottom of the third didn’t add much to Robinson’s score, only gaining one point: 9-0 Robinson.

At the top of the fourth, there were position changes in the field for Robinson. Alyssa Boorom (’21) took to the mound and Magin took Pousson’s position in right field. A batter walk to first set up a double play again for Ripine and Thaxton. A strike-out finished the top of this inning.

Dehoyos hit a double to the fence while Ripine and Magin walked after her. Walks and steals were other common actions that happened in the inning again. Boorom came up for her first at-bat of the game and hit the ball right up the middle, moving the runs around the bases. Stevens comes up to bat again and hits a triple into the outfield, which cleared the bases. Riley Onisawa (’23) hit a double down the left side, where the teams stopped the game.

The game ended in a run-rule after four innings. The final score was 15-0. Their win advances them to the finals of Districts and they hyped that the work they put in all season has paid off.

“…this year has been [the team] working together and having each other’s backs…having confidence in each other is also important…[because] you know if you make a mistake, someone is going to be there to pick you up,” Junior captain Lindsey Chadwick said.