The CHS varsity softball team has been working all season to make it to the CIF championships this 2024 school year. Throughout the season, they have been growing and developing as teammates as well as individuals. The team finished out their season with a 5-4 victory against Rancho Buena Vista.
Throughout the season, the team has been running infield-outfield drills, hitting spots and experimenting with different pitching styles to assemble their plays and strategies for their tournament. However, the mental side of the game is as important as the physical aspects.
“Our team is planning on winning CIF this year by being really on that grind at practice, in the weight room all the time,” Freshman Reagan Biggie said. “We are practicing every day after school hitting in the cages and pitching. We are really trying to work on our mental side of the game too, competing every time we step on that field and just giving it our all.”
Senior Tiara Hill has been on varsity softball since her sophomore year. She has experienced many years of being coached and knows what it is like to be on a well-rounded team. Now, she has the experience of being a leader for her team.
“I feel like the preparation is different this year because last year we had a lot more seniors stepping up,” Hill said. “Now we don’t have as many, so we all have to take on that responsibility of being a good leader and influence to the players that haven’t been here long.”
The team is preparing every day after school to lead themselves to victory in the CIF championships. The team has been working hard this season, resulting in a .438 batting average and 133 strikeouts so far.
“At practice, we’ve been conditioning and endurance training,” Biggie said. “After practice we run for an hour, doing ladders and mountain climbers. We are just working hard and making sure our technique and skills are on point for the tournament.”
During the games, the girls uplift each other by creating cheers. There is a special one for each player when they are up to bat. They cheer a nickname to make the other players feel a boost of confidence.
“I feel like over this season I have gained a lot of confidence for the position that I am playing,” Junior Stella Roller said. “I feel like I learned to apply myself more and trust myself that I will make the right decision when playing.”
To build their bond as a team, the girls already on varsity treated the new-coming girls to a special morning with the team as initiation. The week after the new varsity players found out they made the team, the older teammates surprised them at their house at around five o’clock in the morning and took them to Starbucks for breakfast. After that, they took them back to a teammate’s house and gave them shirts they decorated.
“I think at the beginning of the season, I felt like the girls were timid to get to know each other, but I think we honestly gained a close relationship by hanging out a lot and doing things together outside of school,” Roller said. “During the games, just understanding each other and getting to know everyone as a person and not just as a teammate really helped the team be better as well.”
Being on a team of any kind comes with responsibility and a devotion to teammates. These girls celebrate their victories and even losses by going out to dinner or lunch after most games.
“I feel like we have definitely had our ups and downs together as a team,” Biggie said. “Sometimes we don’t get along with each other, but we always make sure to put that aside when we get on that field and play for one another.”
