Home Sweet Home: Kiara Bori-Nazario scores during the Lady Shark’s 4-1 victory over Palm Beach State College on March 9.
Last year, the Miami Dade College’s softball team dominated their opponents on the road to taking the Southern Conference title.
Things are different this year. The Lady Sharks are at 18-14 and 6-2 in the Southern Conference.
Head Coach Carlos Caro said injuries have prevented the team from winning tight games.
“We have competed fairly, the problem is we’ve lost six out of 12 games by one run and another three games by a total of two runs,” Caro said. “Also players have been hit with sport related injuries.”
Freshmen catcher Karen Pedraza is out for the season with a shoulder injury; sophomore outfielder Captain Veronika Fukunishi is playing through the pain of toe inflammation; freshmen pitcher Rachel Meagley missed a week after a slip and fall accident at her residence injured her shoulder.
Freshman Allora Miller injured her knee during the off-season, tearing her anterior cruciate ligament. Miller is finding her way back into the lineup after knee surgery last September.
“It was hard, because I knew we were better than what we were playing, at the same time you have to stay positive and I pushed myself hard to get back,” Miller said.
Caro said his team is poised to continue an upward trajectory.
“We can make a late run, get our kids stronger and healthier and go back to business,” Caro said. “If we play our best softball we should be able to compete, the bottom of the lineup started slow but now we are hitting better and playing better defense.”
