When the season began, coach Diane Ninemire said she was not worried about losing her lone senior Alex Sutton.

Sutton was undoubtedly the leader of a young Bears squad in 2007 and was the only player elected to the All Pac-10 second-team. But Ninemire had something up her sleeve: the addition of two talented freshman in Valerie Arioto and Sanoe Kekahuna.

“I feel like I got two for one,” Ninemire said. “These two freshmen are very competitive and have shown signs of moving in the right direction.”

It sounded like something every coach would say to remain optimistic after the loss of a key component of the team. But Arioto and Kekahuna have more than lived up to expectations so far this season, proving that they indeed do have a chance of picking up where Sutton left off.

Kekahuna has been lights out at the plate so far in her rookie season, batting .405 with 5 home runs, not to mention her 19 RBI, which ranks second in the Pac-10. The Maui, Hawaii native helped bail her team out of a jam in Wednesday’s game against Santa Clara with 2 RBI and 2 runs scored in the final three innings of Cal’s 7-5 win.

Arioto on the other hand has quickly emerged as both a solid leadoff hitter and is beginning to show signs that she is ready to be the backup pitcher. She has a .350 batting average as well as a 2.52 ERA, impressive numbers for a freshman dealing with two different roles.

Of course, its too early to tell but if the freshmen continue to improve at this rate, the loss of Sutton may not turn out to be so bad.