The kids are all right: Aragon’s young team finding winning formula

Instead of taking it easy on the five sophomores and six freshmen in the group, Aragon head coach Liz Roscoe challenged them. Big time.

“We were young, so I set up a very tough schedule for them,” Roscoe said, “and I’m very proud of where we’re at right now. All of them.”

Indeed, the young Dons (1-0 PAL Bay, 5-6 overall) aren’t only surviving. They’ve been thriving as off late, winning four of their last five, including Thursday’s 14-3 mercy-rule win over 2022 CCS Division III champion Carlmont at Capuchino in the Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division opener.

Aragon did experience some growing pains, losing five of its first six, though there were losses to powerhouses like Mitty and Live Oak. The Dons dropped those two back-to-back in the Circle of Champions Tournament in Salinas, but their worse loss came in the Feb. 25 season opener, a 16-2 landslide at the hands of Livermore.

“I knew it was coming,” Roscoe said. “So, I knew we had some ballers coming in. Our first preseason game ... our pitchers couldn’t throw a strike, and I thought: ‘Oh man, we’re in trouble.’ But they came out here and ever since they’ve been working hard.”

The Dons have played the rest of their games close. Even with a 5-6 overall record, they have outscored opponents 73-64 overall.

“We knew we had a lot of seniors leaving, obviously,” Aragon sophomore Taylor Workman said. “So, we kind of went in with the expectation that it was going to be a lot of young people, a lot of freshmen. So, obviously we all didn’t know each other, and that was something for the first few practices ... we just have to create an environment where everybody is comfortable with one another. And that probably took a little while, but I think by tonight, [11] games in, that was really good.”

Aragon is batting .353 as a team, and the young hitters flexed their muscles Thursday through the middle of their order in the midst of a 10-run outburst in the first inning. The Dons totaled just two hits in the frame — relying on four walks, two hit batsmen and two Carlmont errors — but after Workman walked and Aliyah Adle got hit by a pitch to set the table, No. 3 hitter Olivia Mukherjee and cleanup hitter Destiny Garcia followed with back-to-back hits.

Aragon totaled just five hits in the game, with Mukherjee going 2 for 4 with an RBI; Workman going 1 for 2 with a bases-loaded walk and three RBIs, including a scorched two-run single in the fourth; and Garcia had one hit with two RBIs.

Carlmont (0-1, 0-5) started a freshman pitcher in right-hander Jordan Sbrajia, a call-up from the junior-varsity ranks making her second varsity appearance of the season. She was countered by Aragon freshman right-hander Makayla Hafoka.

“I think we’re going to have to battle for every game,” Carlmont head coach Steve Rianda said. “If we are giving up the walks that we’re giving up, and making the errors, yeah, it’s going to be tough. Because we don’t have the power hitters and we’re just not as crisp as we should be.”

The Dons used two pitchers, including freshman reliever Chloe Wan working the fifth. It is the first time Aragon has had two freshman pitchers on staff under Roscoe’s watch, she said.

The game was moved to Capuchino due to weather-related reasons. Aragon and Carlmont both have natural grass fields, whereas Cap has synthetic turf that was ready to play after Wednesday’s heavy rains.

Aragon has depth beyond the 13 varsity players. Roscoe was insistent on fielding a junior-varsity squad this year, and the team currently has nine players on roster, though some underclassmen players currently on varsity will flex between varsity and JV.

“I wanted to have two teams,” Roscoe said. “It’s a very big priority for me because that’s the future of your program. So, you want to have two teams. ... We’ve had players this year that have never played softball before, and we’re encouraging them to come out so that we can have two teams.”

Roscoe knows how to grow ’em, though. Thursday’s starting first baseman, junior Elizabeth Magness, was a varsity freshman in 2022 when Aragon didn’t field a JV squad. She totaled just 29 at-bats, after starting the year by getting hit in the head with an errant fly ball and splitting her head open in her first varsity practice, Roscoe said.

“She has come so far,” Roscoe said. “If you would have told me her freshman year she was going to be playing first base for me, I would have told you you’re crazy. But she has come a long way. She’s worked hard and she’s just a pleasure kid to coach.”