New Year, New Season

Zoe Harms, Co-Editor-in-Chief

The Varsity softball team hasn’t had too much luck these past few years but now things are looking up. On March 14th the team won their first game in three years, meaning for everyone except for the seniors, it was their first win. 

“We have new coaches and we seem more organized this year and it’s my senior year, so it’s definitely heartbreaking at the same time,” senior Monique Zambrano said, “because this is probably gonna be the last year I’m playing softball, but I’m here to win.”

During Covid, the team had many rules and regulations they had to follow, like holding their breath while rounding first base because of COVID, but now that there aren’t a lot of rules, they can do more things and have fun. There also isn’t a limit to how big the team could be. 

“Well, right now we have I think like 13 girls on the team, and whoever tried out and stayed for tryouts made the team,” junior Estelle Machado said. 

The team now has two softball coaches instead of one, Coach Buddy Snyder and Coach Eric Haro, and it seems like they have improved on working together as a team more. 

“I feel more organized in general because we have a set thing we have to do,” Zambrano said, “He sends us a schedule [of] what we have to do and we all have to stick to it.”

Each position has a new routine they need to follow. For example, an outfielder starts off practice with a run and then does some fielding drills. With new sets of drills, the girls on the team have felt more like a unit rather than individuals. 

“We seem to be very organized and more confident in our hitting and our catching and everything,” Zambrano said, “… we’re at B league we are probably gonna go to A league I feel [next] year.”

On March 29, they will have their first league game against Oak Grove at home following their win a few weeks ago. 

“It was so great because it was the first win in forever,” Machado said, “Everyone was all happy… we were screaming and jumping.”

With their new schedules locked in place, the girls have improved in batting the most. In the last few years, a big struggle for the girls was getting on the bases, but now with more batting practice, it’s starting to pay off. 

“I have more of a passion now that we are winning games, last year, we weren’t winning as many games, unfortunately,” Zambrano said, “But when we win, I feel like it brings our spirits up and gets us more excited for games.”

The team has expressed that they feel more confident now and that they are playing better as a team this year. Some girls who have been in the same positions for years are getting the chance to play different positions and get more experience. 

“I definitely want to see more people out there,” Zambrano said, “More supporters out there coming in, people recording us, helping us out, and cheering us on.”