LATHROP – After giving up four first-inning runs, Lathrop pitcher Samantha Fonseca allowed just one for the rest of the game as the Spartans ended their contest with visiting Edison via the mercy rule with a 16-5 drubbing of the Vikings.

“I felt good out there,” Fonseca said. “I was shaky at first but then I came around and I was fine.”

Lathrop (2-0) had just six hits behind those 16 runs, but the Spartans drew nine walks in the first three innings and in those frames Edison (0-1) tallied eight of its nine errors.

Lathrop’s big inning was the seventh when the Spartans posted seven runs with two four-baggers — one was a home run by Leslie Landeros, and the other with Adelina Moreno hitting what appeared to be a routine groundout that turned into a three-error play ending with Moreno safely standing on home.

“I was not expecting that (home run),” Landeros said. “I was swinging just to make contact.

“But I saw it coming down the middle and I knew it was going to be a good hit.”

The Spartans had just four  at-bats. Landeros was 2 for 3, and the first four Lathrop batters – Brittany Johnson, Regina Juarez, Mariel Bertossi and Desiree Mendola  – all reached base three times apiece. Only Johnson and Juarez had a hit – one apiece – and all other trips on base came from walks or errors. No. 5 batter Fonseca reached base twice in three trips – once when she was hit and the other on an error.

With just seven total wins in the last three seasons, the 2-0 start for Lathrop may indicate a change of direction for the program.

“It feels good to be 2-0,” Spartans coach Joe Lopez said. “This is building up their confidence and helping with their overall attitude of the game.

“It’s fun when you win and I know it isn’t when you lose – I don’t care what anyone says – and these ladies are putting it together. It’s early in the season and it is going good, but I told the girls they could do better, and if they strive to do better, they will continue to win.”