Sometimes the result is not indicative of the effort.
It's hard to look at a 10-run loss and see a lot of positives, but for California on Thursday against Southern Boone, that may be the case.
Though the Pintos lost 10-0 in five innings to a hard-hitting Eagles team, they were nearly mistake-free and turned in quality at-bats at the plate.
"Our girls played well and we didn't really have errors," California head coach Darrell Bolin said. "Southern Boone is a good ball team. They hit the gaps and hit the ball hard.
"There's positives to take away from this. The girls battled and faced a good pitcher tonight."
Southern Boone's Ashley Osborne came out firing on the mound. The junior was perfect through three innings with five strikeouts in that span. The Pintos finally got a baserunner in the fourth when Jessica Reynolds reached on an error.
California broke into the hit column to start the fifth inning when Braleigh Johnson scorched a double that rolled to the fence. Though Johnson advanced to third in the inning, the Pintos were unable to get her home and extend the game further.
Osborne finished with a complete game shutout win and a final line of six strikeouts against one hit and one walk allowed.
While Osborne threw a gem for the Eagles, their offense was equally as impressive. Southern Boone was aggressive early in the count against California pitcher Kaitlyn Turner on its way to big innings in the first, second and fourth frames.
Each of the first five Southern Boone hitters had an extra base hit in the game. Senior Kylee Lammers had two hits and three RBI while Kate Ponder had a pair of hits and two RBI. Catcher Brianna Volle drove in a pair of runs for the Eagles, as did Osborne.
Though Turner struggled against a potent Southern Boone lineup, the sophomore has pitched at a high level early in the season. She has gotten the ball in almost all of California's games and has continued to throw strikes and keep battling.
"Kaitlyn has such control that she's going to eat up a lot of innings," Bolin said. "She wants the ball every game. She's just that type of competitor."
With only one senior on the roster, this season was always going to be about learning for the Pintos. Through nearly 10 games, it's clear the program has made progress. With three wins, California has already equaled its win total from all of last year.
"Our time is coming," Bolin said. "It's kind of like an error on the field, we just have to put this one in the book and move on."