The softball team has stepped up to the plate this year, winning nearly twice as many games as last year and hovering on the outskirts of the District 13-5A playoff race, a few games out of the final playoff spot.

“Probably the biggest thing this year is we are better offensively and defensively,” head coach Martha Richard said. “We’re not make as quite as many errors as we did last year and we are just scoring more runs to win ball games.”

Although the team currently isn’t in a playoff spot, they still have a chance at the postseason which is a different story than last year.

“Realizing that there is a chance at playoffs this year I think it motivates everyone to show up everyday and work harder than just showing up to be there like we did last year,” junior Halle Birckelbaw said.

One of the biggest changes in the team’s fortunes is a result of Richard’s decision to have players try out different positions, which senior Kinsey Mikeska says has been beneficial for the team and their success on the field.

“We definitely started off with longer practices before season and then as we get better we get to shorten the practices because we get what we need to done,” Mikeska said. “We just go out there and work hard and if we go out there and work the practices shorten so it’s our choice.”

With a handful of games still remaining, the team has already more wins than last year which can be traced to a few factors.

“I think our team chemistry is a lot better this year and we trust each other a lot more,” sophomore Riley Bridge said. “[Coach Richard] changed the positions a lot and Laurel’s pitching now so she’s doing really good and we’re all playing for each other and not for ourselves.”