BLOOMFIELD, N.J. - The Bloomfield College softball team dropped a pair of games to the Tigers of Holy Family Saturday afternoon but celebrated Senior Day and a career milestone for junior pitcher Kirsten Wilson (Beaver Falls, P.A.) who recorded her 500^th strikeout in the circle.
 
The Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) doubleheader at Clarks Pond South left the Bears at 15-20 overall and 8-12 in league play while the Tigers improved to 17-15 and 11-7 in conference match ups.
 
In the opener, Wilson needed just three strikeouts for 500 and pitched a complete game, holding Holy Family off the board for five straight innings. The Bears started the scoring in the first inning as a sac-fly from Faith Apolskis (Soquel, Calif) plated Aubrey Orr (Gallup, N.M.) that put the home team up 1-0. That score remained as Wilson struck out two batters entering the top half of the sixth inning. The Tigers pushed across three runs to take control of the game before Wilson faced pinch hitter Alicia Alvarado and struck out the senior for her 500^th of her career. 
 
Kirsten (9-7) finished the game allowing three runs on six hits, walking one batter and striking out three. She also went 2-for-3 from the other side of the plate in the 3-1 loss for the Bears.
 
Prior to the start of game two, head coach, Ashton Corley honored the softball team's five seniors for their commitment to the program. Melissa Yepez (Paramount, Calif.), Lauren Bueno (Hacienda Heights, Calif.), Annette Daw (Gallup, N.M.), Veronica Cobos (Torrance, Calif.) and Greta Coleman (Indianola, W.A.) were all recognized and celebrated for their outstanding contributions to Bloomfield College softball.

CORLEY'S COMMENTS ON HER FIVE SENIORS:
This group of 5 seniors has earned a 40-39-1 career record ?over two seasons ?and finished in 4th place ?during last year's CACC playoff tournament with two big upsets. As proud as I am of them collectively, individually each? student athlete? ?brings a unique aspect to the team that will be impossible to replace.
 
Melissa Yepez-
Yepez joined Bloomfield after an outstanding career at Long Beach City College in California.  During her time at LBCC, Yepez was a smooth-fielding middle infielder and batted at the top of lineup during those two seasons. Although she primarily played the infield prior to arriving at Bloomfield, Yepez shifted to centerfield for the Bears in 2015 and committed just one error while playing 44 games there last season.  Yepez enjoyed a number of strong games in 2015, registering eight multi-hit games throughout the year.  In a key 3-0 win over Nyack last season, Yepez was 2-3 and scored two of the Bears' three runs that game.  Also,? in an ?extra inning win over Goldey Beacom, Yepez hit RBI singles in the ninth and tenth innings to spur the Bears to a 4-3 win. This season, Mel has continued her defensive excellence back in the infield and has yet to commit an error in 86 chances. Melissa will graduate a two sport-athlete, a member of the school's volleyball team which finished in 2nd place? this post season?, a member of the Chi Alpha Sigma, a NFCA All-American Academic, and led the team with a 3.86 GPA last season. Melissa will graduate with honors in May with a degree in psychology.
 
Annette Daw-
Annette Daw, middle infielder from Albuquerque,? New Mexico came to us from Pratt, a junior college in Kansas where she typically batting in the top of the lineup and was a strong defensive player.  She batted .291and was second on the team with 20 RBIs and 15 walks. During her two years a Bloomfield, Annette has played 62 games at second base and has improved her batting average by .200 through her hard work in the off season. Aside from Annette's accomplishments on the field, Nette Lou has been a spark for our team--before every game I can count on Annette to get the infield laughing and talking during warm ups or to send the team a motivational video when we hit a rough patch, those ?are ?something?s? that may only be significant to a coach, but truly speaks the world of her
drive and the type of player she is. Personally, I will truly miss Annette laughing at my corny jokes and comments in the van on the way to practice, I am not sure if they were genuine or out of pity but I do appreciate it nonetheless.
 
Greta Coleman-
Coleman, a versatile player from Washington ?state ?came to Bloomfield from Olympic College. Coleman was an all-conference catcher her sophomore year at Olympic where she batted .424 with seven home runs and 38 RBIs as Olympic's number three hitter. At Bloomfield, Greta has been a defensive staple behind the plate. Greta may be the most liked player in the CACC if you ask the umpires, I cannot tell you how many times an umpire will call ahead to see which end of the double header she will be catching so they can make sure they are not in the field that game--a fact that you would believe to be absurd unless you have had the pleasure to see Greta simultaneously hold and conversation, call her own game, manage the defense, and put up a strong defensive front without hesitation  Aside from her defensive abilities Greta has been one the hardest working players in the program, constantly leading by example, and a vocal mainstay on the team. For me, Greta has been the player that I can go to when I need something done within the team or a representative of the program I know will make us proud. Greta currently holds the highest GPA on the team, is an NFCA Academic All-American, and is also a member of Chi Alpha Sigma.
 
Lauren Bueno-
Bueno is an outfielder who came to Bloomfield from Metro State by way of Otero Junior College.  During her last season of competition at Otero, Bueno hit .322 with nine home runs and 51 RBIs in 54 games.  She also slugged .591 and stole 12 bases. Lauren was Otero's left fielder and batted in the middle of their lineup during their 2013 season when they went 52-11. For the bears, Lauren was awarded Second Team All-CACC--Outfield in 2015. During one stretch of the season, Bueno hit safely in nine of ten games, batting .455 in that span with a slugging percentage of .909.  She also hit a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth against CACC regular season champion Caldwell to give Bloomfield a 2-2 tie with the East Region's top team. This year Lauren has continued to be in middle of the mix during our big innings--either getting on base and scoring runs or driving them in herself, she currently leads the team in RBIs batting anywhere from 5th to 8th in the lineup. Currently Lauren is just shy of a .300 career batting average and boasts a .466 slugging percentage with 8 homers and counting. Off the field, Lauren has been successful in the class room and I am happy to say already has a few job opportunities awaiting her when she graduates in May with a degree in Sociology.
 
Veronica Cobos-
Cobos attended Otero Junior College and had an immediate impact as a freshman for Otero, batting .423 with 15 home runs, 43 runs and 39 RBIs against some of the top junior college competition in the country.  Cobos followed up that performance with an All-Region season during her sophomore campaign, in which she led Otero to a 54-9 record and the Region IX championship.  During her first year at Bloomfield, Veronica hit .292 and played a fantastic centerfield until she tore her ACL, LCL, and MCL during the last conference game at Wilmington. The following year Cobos reluctantly decided to redshirt and rehabilitate her knee and promised to come back 100%. She has not disappointed. This year Cobos has won back her starting position in centerfield and nearly matched her numbers with 14 games left to play in the regular season. This year, Veronica came in clutch driving in the winning run in the bottom of the 9th inning in game one of a huge sweep over Felician. Veronica holds a special place in my heart because she will be the first of graduate of the group of players that came in during my first year as assistant coach. She has been with me through the ups and downs of coaching and I know I have been particularly hard on her as my successor in centerfield, but she has so important in my personal growth as a coach. Veronica will FINALLY graduate in May with a degree in Broadcast Journalism.
 
In a display of sportsmanship, the Bears also recognized seniors Alvarado, Kristine Casey, Claudia Boggi and Alexis Maggi from Holy Family and presented them a small token from athletic director Sheila Wooten.
 
In game two, Bloomfield struggled to push across a run as the Tigers shut out the Bears 4-0. Holy Family struck first in the top half of the second off with and took a 1-0 lead. The visitors added two more runs in the fourth inning and capped the scoring in the fifth with a single run on a passed ball. 
 
Gabby Citriniti (Corning, N.Y.) (3-4) picked up the loss for Bloomfield in the circle as she gave up three runs on six hits in four innings of work with two walks and four strikeouts. Stephanie Miller (Temecula, Calif.) pitched three innings for the Bears with a walk and a strikeout.
 
Orr finished game two, 2-for-3 as Bloomfield managed six hits but left eight runners on the base pads.
 
Bloomfield returns to action tomorrow as the Bears host Georgian Court University in a make-up conference doubleheader from Apr 9th.  Game one is slated for 1 p.m. at Clarks Pond South in Bloomfield, N.J.
 
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