Cabrillo softball is starting a new era under first-year coach Christina Crissman. The Los Alamitos High alum and former junior varsity coach has had to adjust quickly to her first head coaching job at the variety level.
“It’s been a lot more phone calls and emails than I expected but I’m handling it,” Crissman said. “I’ve had a lot of support from the administration, which is great. We did a lot of fundraising and our parents donated a lot of money to get some new gear and new uniforms… We’re building here, and we’re going to learn to compete.”
Senior pitcher Elsa Madera will be key to Cabrillo’s success alongside junior first baseman Emily Rodriguez, junior catcher Mariah Ramirez and sophomore shortstop Clarissa Viana.
With building for the future in mind, Crissman only has a handful of upperclassman on a roster that doesn’t have any travel ball players.
“We’ve had to teach a lot of the game with repetition with the basics,” Crissman said. “We’re doing drills rolling ground balls to get easy out and explain force outs.. It’s been a lot of little steps.”
Crissman hopes those steps lead towards more competitive results in league.
“We’re going to compete, play the game and not give up,” Crissman said. “We know were going up against some good competition. We just want to play the whole game and see what we can do. We’re excited.”
