The South Coast’s 18-and-under SOCS softball team went 2-3 during the City of Roses tournament over the weekend, despite having just 11 of its 17 players.

SOCS failed to score more than two runs in any of the games, which led to a pair of losses despite outstanding efforts on the mound.

“Our pitching was solid and our defense was good most of the time, with some errors at times that definitely hurt us,” said Jeri Young, one of the team’s coaches.

“Taking a week off was a mistake in that our hitting was not what we normally are capable of doing,” Young said. “And the opposition’s pitching on Saturday was slower than what we’ve been seeing, and we weren’t able to adjust.”

SOCS opened the tournament with a 2-0 loss to the Vancouver, Wash., Storm. Alyssa Bergquist pitched a three-hitter for SOCS, but was backed by only three hits by her own team.

SOCS bounced back with a 2-1 win over the Lady Blues of Portland. Molly Hockema pitched a two-hitter with 13 strikeouts. SOCS had seven hits, including a double by Tiffany Wiley and a triple by Jessica Ott. Ott and Katherine Zuber drove in the runs, which were scored by Hockema and Ott. Wiley and Ott each had two hits.

SOCS followed that win with a 2-0 victory over the East County Thunder of Estacada. Bergquist pitched a one-hitter with eight strikeouts. Ott drove in Lauryn Lesina with one of the two runs for SOCS, and Lesina had a sacrifice fly to bring in Wiley with the other.

But SOCS managed just one run in each of the final two losses — 6-1 to the Hillsboro Thunder and 4-1 to the Ashland Bandits.

Lesina had a home run against Hillsboro and scored the run against Ashland on an RBI double by Hockema.

“Hopefully we’ll bounce back and be able to be competitive this coming weekend in Hillsboro at the state tournament,” Young said. “We’re looking at a list of 15 very competitive teams.”

Despite just two wins last weekend, Young likes what she is seeing.

“In all, we’ve improved as a team in all aspects, so hopefully we can pull it together at this tournament and be as, or more, competitive than the teams we’ll be playing.”

Game 1

Vancouver Storm 2, SOCS 0

SOCS    000    000    0    —    0    3    4

Storm    000    110    x    —    2    3    1

Alyssa Bergquist and Lauryn Lesina; Perdew and Bodenroeder.

Game 2

SOCS 2, Lady Blues 1

Blues    000    001    0    —    1    2    3

SOCS    000    002    x    —    2    7    0

Molly Hockema and Lauryn Lesina; Girres and Carlson. 2B—SOCS: Tiffany Wiley. 3B—SOCS: Jessica Ott.

Game 3

SOCS 2, Estacada Thunder 0

Thunder    000    000    0    —    0    1    0

SOCS    000    110    x    —    2    5    1

A. Breninger and B. Breninger; Alyssa Bergquist and Lauryn Lesina.

Game 4

Hillsboro Thunder 6, SOCS 1

Thunder    000    114    0    —    6    6    0

SOCS    100    000    0    —    1    4    6

Schriber and Dendinger; Molly Hockema and Lauryn Lesina. 3B—Thu: Brown. HR—SOCS: Lesina.

Game 5

Ashland 4, SOCS 1

Ashland    030    000    1    —    4    7    0

SOCS    000    100    0    —    1    3    3

Koss and Cantrell; Alyssa Bergquist and Lauryn Lesina. 2B—Ash: Koss; SOCS: Molly Hockema.