It takes stamina to make it to a higher level, but now that the Diamond Bar varsity softball team is beginning its second year in a new league, the Lady Brahmas are looking to hit the dirt running in the regular season.

“We are competing in the tough Palomares League,” Coach Roberta Garcia-Uyemura said via email. “We hope that the tough schedule that we are competing against in our pre-season will help us in league.”

The team finished the Brea Olinda Tournament at El Dorado High School on March 5. The Brahmas suffered two losses against St. Paul and Orange Lutheran, but captured a 10-2 win against the Ontario Jaguars.

The Lady Brahmas also won against Glendora at home in their first league game, dominating against the Tartans with a final score of 4-1 on March 9. Good hits by players such as senior Summer Anderson and freshman Mikayla Malatka gave the team members an advantage.

In comparison, the Tartans only scored one point after a home run hit by one of their players in the fourth inning. However, the work of junior pitcher Becky Winder and the rest of the team kept the Tartans stuck with only one point through the remainder of the seven innings.

While the first game of the season was in late February, members from last year’s team had been anticipating the new season since the beginning of fall, practicing for try-outs and building fitness. The team was announced in January.

“We are trying to keep a fast tempo type of practice to get the most out of the players. They are expected to hustle once their feet hit the dirt,” Garcia said.

Team captains have not been chosen yet, but there are several seniors on the team including Casey Tamanaha, Summer Anderson, Andrea Gonzalez, Pamela Wang, and Brenna Harold, who can use their experience to lead the other members of the team. Three of the current team members are freshmen, replacing one starter who graduated last year.

Last year, the Lady Brahmas had a 3-6 record in the Palomares League. Despite a rocky progression through the season, the team placed fourth overall.

“We would like to improve on teamwork and working together and compete in league to be able to make the playoffs at the end of the season,” Garcia said of the team’s goals for its 2016 endeavors.

The next game will be part of this week’s Mark Takkinen Memorial Classic tournament against the Fullerton Union High School Indians tomorrow.

“The Palomares League is a very tough league that we compete in, every game on our schedule gets us ready to compete for the next one,” Garcia said.

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