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One final season in CCC for Bulldog softball
Turlock Softball 1
Sophie Mayol of Turlock is one of the standouts returning for the Bulldogs and has verbally committed to play collegiate softball at UC Davis. - photo by EDDIE RUIZ/The Journal

The final spring season in the Central California Conference has already kicked off for the Turlock High varsity softball team and after seven games played their record stands at 4-3.

“We do team expectations for the year and one of them is to win CCC and they want to go deep in playoffs, they know we are a solid team and I think they are hungry,” said Turlock head coach Jill Ogden.

Last season, Turlock amassed an overall record of 16-12 en route to a playoff berth in the Division-I Sac-Joaquin Section tournament.

They toppled Gregori, 9-6, before falling to the eventual champions, Sheldon High, in a 13-0 decision.

“This has been a building process and we have the staple in our three senior varsity starters since their freshman year,” said Ogden.

Those three seniors are Jessie Miranda, Kelly Weber and UC Davis-bound Sophie Mayol.

The team also boasts junior D-I commit Shelby Frutoz (Long Beach State).

“Every year we’ve gotten better, they helped us, it’s the vision we had that as seniors we would compete for CCC,” said Ogden. 

Last year, Turlock went 7-5 in the CCC, winning their final two games to clinch a postseason berth.

Frutoz (.443) and Mayol (.429) were the anchors of that team with above average batting averages and multiple homeruns.

Combined, they hit 11 homers and drove in 63 of the team’s 133 RBI.

Frutoz also did work from the mound, tossing 167 and 2/3 innings, accumulating an ERA of 2.00, while striking out 230 for the year and walking 69.

This year’s team has five seniors on the roster that also includes Megan Van Ruler and Kayla Pollinger.

It also helps that sophomore catcher Mackenzie Campbell is back working behind the plate.

“This team has been really easy to work with, they gel very well, I think they have potential and can go deep in playoffs if we get a good seed,” said Ogden. “So, we want to avoid what happened last year.”

Turlock is currently boasting four sophomores on the squad and coach Ogden feels the underclassmen can all get a fair shot of playing time.

“Absolutely, we feel we have the team to do it this year,” Ogden added. “We also have veteran leaders, a transfer from Oakdale and she is good. Playing time is very competitive right now so we expect them to compete for a position.”

Turlock will open up league play on the road at Buhach Colony at 4 p.m. Thursday.