Spring softball preview

A look ahead to the upcoming softball season

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Battlefield’s Softball is coming off a successful season last year, finishing the regular season with fourteen wins and five losses. Softball won their overall series against Patriot, beating Battlefield’s perennial rival two out of the three times they played. Their second win led to their progression to the conference championship. Unfortunately in that game they suffered a defeat at the hands of Osbourn Park, losing by a score of 2-3. The girls managed to progress two rounds into the regional tournament before getting knocked out by James Madison High School, ending their season. Now they are looking forward to building on that and achieving more this coming season.

 

The Bobcats open up their season on March 12, hosting the Bulldogs of C. D. Hylton Senior High School. The following two games are against Langley High School and Colgan High School, at home and then away, respectively. After, they go on to a Spring break tournament from the 24 to the 26, playing five games in only two days. They open up district play on April 6 on the road against Osbourn High School. However, they do not get into the heart of district play until April 13 against Stonewall Jackson High School, which will be the first of seven straight district games. These district games are extremely important for seeding in the conference tournament, which later affects placement in the regional tournament.

 

The final district game is against Patriot and it is the senior night at Battlefield as well. This is going to be a big game with a lot of pressure and preparation can vary between players. Senior Kelsey Brown says, “We will warm up the same way, and be prepared for the game with all the practice we put in throughout the season.” Keeping the same routine physically might be easy but it is the biggest game of the season and that can affect players mentally. “I already know I’m going to be emotional senior night since it’s my last regular season game as a bobcat. I’m going to miss playing with my teammates, but play just as hard senior night as every other game to help our team win.” Determination and teamwork are key to the success of any sport and the ability to not get influenced by a specific occasion are vital to winning a game.

 

Dean Ferington is the team’s head coach, entering his second year as the head of the Softball program. After a relatively successful first year there are high hopes for future success that he can lead the team to. Junior Megan Webb, a returning player, says, “He [Ferington] was hard on us last year so we knew his expectations and I don’t believe they will change, he has helped this immensely.” Although this year he may have a tougher time with it due to the low number of returning seniors who can lead the team compared to last year. This year there will only be three returning seniors, whereas last year the team was lucky enough to have eight senior players. Brown is one of those three seniors, “My goal this year is to be more of a leader and good role model. We are going to have a young and talented team, and the juniors and seniors this year are going to have to lead by example for the younger players.” This is just one of the many hurdles this team will have to cross before success is found on and off the field.

The Softball program is looking to build upon a solid season last year. They are optimistic about their chances this coming season and will be working hard to improve their performance. Junior Caroline Joy, three year veteran of the Softball team at Battlefield when referencing new and younger players, says, “I feel like once we get into the swing of thing of practice and games then we’ll really see who the standout players area and who’s gonna be crucial for the program this year and next year.” Battlefield Softball’s upcoming season has big shoes to fill from the last but the new roster has a lot of potential; the attitude is there to make it far.