" Scrimmage is a word referring to an informal game between members of the same team, usually in the spirit of practicing or mutually gaining improvement and experience." (from Wikipedia)

Saturday morning, the girls of John Burroughs High School (JBHS) headed out to Agoura Hills, signaling the start of their 2007 varsity softball season. As the definition above would indicate, the scrimmage would provide head coach Nick Schepperle a "real game" look at the 2007 varsity squad. The first opponent for the Indians, were the Chargers of Agoura High School.

On the mound for JBHS was pitcher Lizzie Peters,with Cassie Colón catching behind the plate. In the 1st inning, Peters walked the first batter while the second batter reached first base when she was hit by an inside pitch. Batter #3 for Agoura flew out to left field and the Indians were able to throw out the lead runner. With two outs and a runner on base, the Chargers sent their clean up batter to the plate, who hit a double to center field. One more out and the top half of the 1st inning ended with the Chargers on top of the Indians 1-0. The bottom half of the 1st inning saw the Indians go down in order.

The 2nd inning had the Chargers sending seven batters to the plate while the Indians sent six of their own, with each side scoring one run. At the top of the 3rd inning, the Chargers sent seven more batters to the plate, scoring three runs. For the Indians, the 3rd inning was a repeat of the 1st as they went down in order. The 4th inning brought an end to the softball "game" and morphed into a scrimmage. The Chargers sent six batters to the plate only to see four strike out and two pop up for outs (yes, six outs). The scrimmage gave each coach an opportunity to stage the situation they wanted their team to practice (such as bunting).

Game two for the Indians saw them matched against coach Schepperle's former team - the Panthers of Newbury Park High School. The teams battled over three innings with the Panthers sending13 batters to the plate, scoring two runs, and the Indians with 14 batters and one run. The JBHS battery for game two included Jade Terri on the mound and Katie Budrick catching. After three innings of competitive play, both teams switched to the scrimmage format and practiced different game situations in order to assess the players and determine the season opener starting line up.

Next on the calendar for the Indians will be the season opener against Harvard High School of Westlake. Game time is set for 3 p.m. on March 6, at Los Angeles Valley College.