With work beginning this month on a project that will return the San Bernardino Valley College softball team to campus, the future is looking bright for SBVC softball.

But the 2022 team is working to make sure that that future starts now.

After starting the season slowly, the Wolverines have won their last three games, posting 37 runs in a doubleheader victory over Santa Barbara City College and East Los Angeles College.

The offensive outburst in the previous three games added to the strong start the Wolverines have had at the plate in 2022. Through eight games, SBVC is hitting .327 as a team, with a .383 on base percentage.

The spark plug for the team is returning freshman Aniya Lane. The outfielder, who played in the Covid-19 shortened 2020 season, is hitting .571 in four games this season. And she has continued her torrid pace at stealing bases. In 2020, she stole 24 without being caught, while so far this season, she has been credited with six in her four games, and scoring nine times. She also has the team’s only home run.

Picking up the runners so far this season has been infielder/pitcher Patricia Levi Luna. She is hitting .321 and leads the team with 10 runs batted and four doubles. And as far as players who have registered more than 20 at bats this season, Levi Luna is one of three hitting higher than .300. Diana Ruiz is hitting .381, with a pair of doubles and six runs batted in. And infielder Sierra Banuelos it hitting at a .364 clip, while also maintaining a perfect fielding percentage, with 16 putouts and eight assists.

After a rough start in the circle, the pitching has picked up in the past three games as well. Sofia Gonzalez has back-to-back wins, including an 11-0 shutout of East Los Angeles College last week. In 21 innings, she has 17 strikeouts, posting a 2-3 record after a rough start to the season.

And while construction is just beginning on the new on-campus softball field, the Wolverines will finally have a chance to play in front of the home crowd next week. SBVC will open Inland Empire Athlete Conference play with a game against Barstow College at 2 p.m. Feb. 23 at Chavez Park in the city of Colton.