APTOS >> Lacking both depth and experience, the Cabrillo College softball team stumbled mightily out of the gate this season.

With just 13 players on their roster, the Seahawks have barely had enough players to field a squad in several games early in their 2023 campaign. Of those players, only one, center fielder Brooke Campbell, started for the Seahawks last spring.

In fact, Cabrillo has just three sophomores back from last year’s squad: In addition to Campbell, the Seahawks have Watsonville High grad Daisy Ortiz returning in the pitcher’s circle and San Lorenzo Valley alum Karla Struthers at third base. Both Ortiz and Struthers have missed time due to injuries.

As a result, as of Thursday, Cabrillo has lost six straight games since routing West Hills of Coalinga 13-1 in its season opener.

Despite that string of losses, coach Kristy Rossinger believes her Seahawks should be able to turn things around once Coast Conference South Division play starts.

“We’ve been short two or three starters every game, which makes a big difference,” Rossinger said. “Once we have a full squad together, we should be able to compete with some teams.”

The only other player on Cabrillo’s roster besides Campbell, Ortiz and Struthers who has previous college experience is left fielder Liana Gonzalez, who last played for the Seahawks in 2019.

The freshmen who have handled most of Cabrillo’s pitching duties in Ortiz’s absence, Calli Turns and Soquel grad Tori Sierra, have struggled: As of Tuesday, each had an earned run average above 7.00 and had walked more batters than they’d struck out. Opposing teams have taken advantage of those free passes, outscoring the Seahawks 38-9 in their five losses — two of which ended after five innings due to the eight-run rule.

Still, Rossinger sees reason for optimism — especially now that Turns and Sierra are doing a better job of throwing strikes earlier. Turns, in particular, had struck out 11 batters in 18 1/3 innings as of Feb. 14.

“They do pretty well when they stay ahead in counts,” Rossinger said. “Controlling counts makes them better pitchers, and I’m starting to see that happen.

“When they fall behind in counts, they walk batters. It puts pressure on our defense, it puts pressure on themselves, and they see runners start to score. Once they start controlling counts, they’ll be tough to hit.”

Behind the plate for Cabrillo is catcher Sofi Mendoza — one of two players on the Seahawks’ roster who attended Santa Cruz High but did not play softball for the Cardinals, playing exclusively for club teams instead. The other is right fielder Madi Tara.

Cabrillo boasts an infield brimming with local talent: Manning first base is San Lorenzo Valley grad Jami Van Eyck. Soquel alum Dillyn Vasconcellos is at second, with Aaliyah Gomez, who attended St. Francis, at shortstop.

“Vasconcellos and Gomez really seal up the middle of our defense,” Rossinger said. “They’re one of the best middle infield combos I’ve had at Cabrillo. They’ll be fun to watch the next couple of seasons.”

They’re also two of Cabrillo’s best hitters: Vasconcellos had a team-high .583 batting average through the Seahawks’ first seven games, while Gomez had hit .375, tying her for second with Van Eyck. Vasconcellos and Gomez also shared the team lead in both stolen bases (four apiece) and runs scored (three).

In addition, each had driven in three runs, tying them for second behind Van Eyck, who had collected four RBI.

Filling in at third in Struthers’ absence has been Kasydi Bennett, who hails from Yreka. She was batting .308 as of Tuesday, and Gonzalez was hitting .273.

The rest of the Seahawks, however, were all hitting below .200 — a big reason for the team’s early-season struggles.

“Once we start stringing some hits together, we’ll get some more runs,” Rossinger said. “Once our pitchers start cutting down on walks, we’ll be right there.”

Rounding out Cabrillo’s roster is Veronica Alvarez, a Pajaro Valley graduate who is listed as an outfielder but has been used as a designated player and even pitched an inning.

Cabrillo competes in what Rossinger considers “the toughest conference in Northern California.” The Coast Conference South Division includes three teams ranked among California’s top 10: No. 2 San Mateo, No. 4 Monterey Peninsula, and No. 7 San Jose City. (The Seahawks dropped a nonconference game to SJCC, 8-6, on Thursday.)

Still, despite such a daunting schedule, Rossinger remains optimistic about her team’s hopes of contending.

“We should be able to compete with them once we have all our pieces together,” the coach said. “We’ve been learning a lot, working through adversity and challenging ourselves.

“That should make us stronger individually and as a team.”