by Michelle Brooks | staff writer
Batter up! The girls’ softball team has stepped up to the plate and they are ready to take a swing at going to state.
“It’s going good. We started out the year 12-1. We were 12-0, went and faced a tough Austin Bowie team on Monday [February 27] and lost a hard fought game 5-4. We won the Northside tournament and the Judson/ East Central tournament,” head coach Jennifer Fox said.
Whether it is inside or outside of school, the team always finds time to bond with each other, even if it is after a game on a school night.
“We have team bonding, we have team dinners, and the bus rides to the games just are super exciting, if you have ever seen someone’s snapchat story on [the] softball team, then you know it’s super exciting,” junior Mikayla Briggs said. “And we just hang out outside of softball team, like after games sometimes we all go to one restaurant and chill. So, we’re super close.”
Team chemistry plays an important role in the game of softball.
“Actually yesterday [March 1], at the end of practice, I said this, ‘This is the best team chemistry that we’ve ever had here.’ So, 9 years comparing to 8 other teams, it’s a big compliment to them. Girls have to get along in order to play together and win,” Fox said.
The girls already have one key to victory: teamwork. But, they also have leadership to help in almost any part of the field.
“I feel confident. It’s exciting. A coach told me a long time ago that if you want to be successful, you have to have a good group of seniors and we have a great group of seniors this year,” Fox said. “Caitlyn Colquhoun- the pitcher, Maya Paul’s our catcher, Mia Moreno- she’s our third baseman, and Hannah Boring is an outfielder.”
The team’s performance on the field is reflective of not only their chemistry and leadership, but of their strategy and preparation going into each game.
“If it’s a tough team that’s coming up, we normally don’t change anything. [In] softball you can scout teams and kinda know what they’re gonna do in situations, but our sport is a lot different than others. We have a game plan, we prepare our team,” Fox said. “If it’s something that we’ve been struggling with, we’ll work on it at practice but we don’t really look at our competition. It’s more about us as a team and what we’re doing.”
With all the practice, bonding, and help from their seniors, the players are confident that their season is going to end at state.
“We’re going to state [and] getting that ring,” Briggs said.
