Moving Past Second
Varsity softball team reacts to #2 pre-season rank
Varsity softball’s season opener at Kiwanis park.
After successfully making it to state playoffs last season, the varsity softball team was ranked second out of all STL small schools. The ranking is giving the team motivation to push even farther this year.
“I think we definitely want to be higher up or better if we can, but we are going to have to work hard because we aren’t the same team as we were last year,” Kylie Swinney said, “but we are capable of doing everything we did last year, if we just click and work hard.”
Junior Breanna Hollowell also believes big things could come out this season and that everyone on the team is pulling their weight, not only for themselves, but for the seniors and to make it their best season yet.
“I think everyone wants to do it for the seniors and everyone’s going to give 110 percent for them because this is their last year,” Hollowell said.
Even though this season is very important to the seniors, it’s also important for the new recruits. The freshmen playing varsity this year have big shoes to fill and they know it. New varsity pitcher, freshman Maddie Jackson has taken the spot of graduated pitcher Rachel Payne. She feels that the pressure to perform is on, but that many of the team’s older members have shown her support.
“It’s kind of nerve wracking because last year Rachel was really good, and since I pitch, I feel like I need to exceed that,” Jackson said.
The older girls understand the challenges the freshmen are facing, especially considering last year’s historic season.
“They are a huge part of our team. They are doing a lot for us and they are going to go places this year,” Hollowell said.
Coach David Jones sees that there is great potential for this season and that the team all together is going to make a significant effort to reach their goals.
“Our goal this year is we compete for district championship at the end of the season and we build from day one to reach that goal,”Jones said. “I feel as our team is coming together, we have a lot of new pieces and some freshmen who are going to be contributing at the varsity level and we are very excited about it and the seniors are always great because they realize this is their year to make a big impact before they leave the program.”
