After a successful season, softball went to the regional tournament but lost in the semifinals to Madison High School, which went on to win the Northern Region championship.
Coach Laura Campbell said that the season has been the ?best season our softball program has seen.? Campbell believes that the players ?played as a team and …came through in big moments.?
Senior Michelle Tilson, who has committed to playing for St. John?s College for Division 1 softball, said that the team bonding ?is what helped us the most.?
Senior Lauren Sanata, who was selected for first team all region for first base, also agreed that team bonding helped the team.
?[The bonding] definitely helped us play better because it was a lot easier to talk to players and stay focused on the game,? she said.
The team also ?had a lot of talent and it showed [through the team?s success],? Sanata said.
?We had a good mix of underclassmen and upperclassmen [and] a lot of the underclassmen stepped up,? she added.
Additionally, the team also won many awa r d s , including Olivia Ellis in second team all region for outfield, Tilson in first team all region for catcher, and senior Christine Grilliot in all state for pitcher.
According to Sanata, the awards ?kept people really dedicated to the team.?
The team beat Hayfield High School, which is ranked first in the National District, 4-1 in nine innings, instead of the usual seven innings. They also beat Woodson High School 2-1 in seven innings. Woodson is ranked second in the Patriot district.
When asked about the team?s success, Activities director Joe Swarm said that he thought it was great ?[in] building the program.?
?It takes hard work and dedication [and the team members] are going to put out the best performance that they can [in every game],? Swarm added.
Tilson, who has been recruited by St. Johns, committed at the end of her junior year. Committing to the school ?was definitely really exciting,? she said.
Additionally, Tilson believes that the commitment prevented her from becoming stressed during the time college applications were due.
The team last made it to the regional tournament in 1995.