Trey Jordan is a sophomore at Arizona State University assigned to cover Corona del Sol Athletics.

Defensive errors combined with the 48-degree temperature made for a long Thursday night for Corona del Sol softball. The Aztecs fell to the North High School Saxons 5-3 on four hits and three errors to move to 1-1.

The Aztecs started the night hot, earning all three of their runs in the first inning. As the night grew colder, so did the Corona del Sol bats as they only managed one more hit the rest of the game.

“(We had) a couple errors and some bad plate appearances,” said CDS head coach Sean Thornton.

The Aztecs struggled in hit-and-run and bunt situations. But one bright spot for the team was junior Jaclyn Ibarra who pitched 5 1-3 innings and led the squad in hits with two. She held the Saxons to two runs, until the sixth inning when a single, an error, a hit-by-pitch and a bases-clearing double led to the final three runs crossing the plate.

The Aztecs were not short on fighting spirit, as the players rattled the fence, chanted, or sang on almost every pitch.

“Our energy was still good--even though we were losing it—(and) was up the entire time,” said sophomore outfielder Alyssia Munoz.

Although Thornton didn’t like some of his player’s plate appearances, the Aztec hitters were forcing their opponents to throw their entire repertoire of pitches.

“Their at-bat knowledge has been really good this year. Being selective, knowing pitches, and then they come back and tell each other what’s going on,” said Thornton.

The Aztecs earned three walks, but three hitters also went down looking. This early season loss may sting, still Thornton was excited about his team.

“Feels like we gave a game away,” he said. “For us it’s actually a good thing. It’s a bunch of little things we did wrong that are easily fixable.”

Despite the loss, the Aztecs were upbeat.

“We battled it off and competed with every pitch, so I am happy with us,” said Ibarra after the game.

The Aztecs will continue to battle as they head to Hamilton to play the Huskies Tuesday, March 1 at 3:45 p.m.