The beginning of the spring sports season is right around the corner, and girls softball has been putting in a lot of work during the preseason. This year’s team is ready to show the state what they’re made of.
In describing this year’s team, junior captain Gia Komst sums it up as “new.” With a lot of fresh faces on this years’ roster, the girls will need to come together and create a new bond with one another.
“We have a completely new team with not many returners,” Komst said. “The bond is very strong between the girls because for the most part it’s a lot of new players so everyone is in a similar situation. The returners are more than happy to be there for everyone creating a great dynamic with lots of support.”
Heading into the regular season, this new look team will have to keep up the constant hard work that has been put into the preseason if they want to look as sharp as they did last year. Competing with last year’s team that went all the way to the semi-finals may be challenging on an outside view, but this years’ team has all the potential to do so.
“We had a record of 18-2 last year, and this year each win will need to be earned with great intensity and fight for us to approach the success of last year,” Komst said. “The team is already looking better than expected, and with such a young team we weren’t sure what to think but our practices have been going very well.”
For Komst, this year is going to be bigger than any season she has had on varsity before, being named one of this years’ captains as well as becoming an upperclassmen. Her role to the team was important in previous years, but this year she will have to come with a new mentality and leadership to give the girls the success they want to have this year.
“My coach originally appointed me captain in the fall before this season and I was extremely excited and honored,” Komst said. “I take being captain as a big responsibility and I hope to be someone that my team can look up to and can come to me with any problems or concerns. I like to think of captain as a liaison between the coach and players to make sure everyone knows what’s going on and what they have to do in order for us to perform our best as a team. As captain I can help the new players adjust and make sure things go well as the captain did for me my freshman year.”
Komst, along with the rest of last years returners are going to need to step up during the beginning of the regular season while senior Miranda Galan is out with an injury.
“I’m not happy about [being out] and I wish I could play, but I’ll be back on the field in a couple weeks so all I can do right now is help out the team in any way I can,” Galan said.
Although Galan is in a boot for her broken toe, she is always finding every opportunity to hop in on any drills during practice to keep up with the rest of the team.
“I can throw, catch and hit so I’ve been able to participate in a lot of drills actually,” Galan said. “I also help out by helping Coach MacDog catch, and arrange bonding with the team in general,”
For Galan, there are no future plans for softball in college, unless she plays club or intramural, so she hopes on making this year the best that it can be with her teammates.
“I’m sad it’s over and the best thing all the seniors on the team can do is give 110% and try not to think about how it’s the last season,” Galan said. “Basically we’re all trying to make the best out of the season and make it as far as we can.”
The end is far from near for the Lancer softball season, and the potential that this year’s’ team has is unlimited, so Galan can speak for most when expressing her expectations for the team this year.
We have a really good team this year, and a lot of really good talent,” Galan said. “If we all work together, like we can, we’re going to have an amazing season.”
