They set the tone for Varsity by having energy, commitment and hunger. After three months of games and practice everyday their softball season has come to an end. The girls have a record of 18-10 and ended their season with a 2-game winning streak against Elkhorn South.
The JV players from last year have met some new faces and made new friendships, after part of the team from last year moved up.
“It’s different this year because most of the girls moved to varsity and we have a bunch of new freshmen,” sophomore shortstop Kristine Skinner said.
Part of the JV team is made up of sophomores from last year and they use this opportunity to help new freshmen acclimate to the challenges of high school ball.
“I’ve learned that it’s okay to make mistakes because there is always a teammate to help you get better,” freshman center fielder Addison Shell said.
In their sixth game they started a losing streak at home against Elkhorn South JV with a score of 1-11, this lasted over five games. As they worked together and talked more in practice, they found their groove and bounced back by winning against Millard South JV with a score of 6-1, and collected eight hits and only one error .
“We started off not talking as much but as we got further into the season we built more relationships and became like a family,” Shell said.
The season had held many ups and downs for the players, teaching them valuable life lessons.
“I’ve learned how to be a better teammate,” Skinner said. “I hope to make varsity next year and have more opportunities,”
The heart of the team, Coach Jayda Paul, moved up to JV from reserve and brought a familiar face to the team. She helped the players work together to navigate through the challenges of the season.
“The coaches are amazing, they are nice but tough when they need to,” Shell said. “They push me to be the best I can be,”
The PLHS softball team has a much shorter season than other fall sports with just as many games packed together. The girls have practice everyday after school, 4:00 to 6:00. The players do back to back drills like four corners, double infield, double outfield, and full field with runners.
“It felt like we had a six month season in three months,” Skinner said. “I will miss playing with everyone on the team,”
Being on JV is preparing the girls for varsity by having a jam packed schedule with five games a week on average, a game every Saturday, along with intense practices. On the flip side, it incorporates excitement to remind them why they started playing in the first place.
“It’s fun playing on JV, and you feel like you can play freely because there is not as much pressure as varsity,” Skinner said.
Although all the seniors are on varsity they still have a vast impact on the girls on JV. The girls learn from each other and the seniors make sure they influence the underclassmen.
“I’m going to miss not having Carly[Bertolini] and Gib[Amanda Gibilisco] as our starting pitchers, and having all the seniors with us,” Skinner said.
As the season comes to an end, Skinner and Shell are relieved but reminiscent about the highlights of their season. Having played 28 games, they collectively had 521 at-bats, 117 of them were strikeouts, showing 95.6% of the time the girls got on base. As these two girls go on they are striving to make varsity and become the ones who set the precedent for being a Monarch softball player.
