The clouds rolled in and so did the points as the Lady Vaquero softball team took the win 15-0, shutting out Santa Monica College by way of mercy rule on Tuesday March 6 at home.

After seeing a few losses this year and enduring some unexpected rain early on in the season, the Lady Vaqs stepped up at home to improve their record to 3-7 as they move into conference play.

“It went very well for us,” said Head Coach Paula Congleton. “15 runs, 12 hits. So yeah, it was a great game for us.”

The Corsairs were first to hit and first to strike out as third basewoman Nicole Medina caught the hit from Santa Monica.

With City College taking the plate, Katie Beamer punted the ball rushing to first and sent Michelle Diaz to second. Then, Candice Sandoval took a crack at bat giving Meghan LaFuze the chance to slide into home plate. Medina followed right after. Stephanie Garcia hit the ball to right field, allowing Sandoval and Vanessa Crook to take it home. The first inning saw a wrap-up of nine players crossing home plate.

With the start of the second inning, City College sent Santa Monica’s offense straight back to the dugout after each play. Nicole Medina swiftly ended the second inning with a double out.

On offense, the Lady Vaqs got off to a slow start with two consecutive outs. Diaz scored the only run in the second inning to expand the Lady Vaqs lead, 10-0.

Starting the third inning, the Lady Vaqs held strong to dominate the Santa Monica hitters, leaving them runless. On offense, City College also failed to touch home plate.

The Lady Vaqs cleaned up the third inning, as they took the lead to new heights while scoring their last five runs.

In the fifth inning, Santa Monica took another swift beating and saw the end of their game while going three-and-out to the tough Vaquero defense.

“It’s a great win for us going into the division conference play,” said coach Congleton.

Lady Vaqs continue at home tomorrow in a double header against Ventura College.