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The Chronicle Sports There’s Nothing Soft About this Young Team Coaching change ups lead to winning season by Samantha Malloy Staff Reporter Girls’ softball is off to one of its best starts in school history. With a record of 7-5, players are confident they will be competitive at districts. Head coach Tori Hill credits the team’s success to some changes the coaching staff made this year. “We decided to keep one large team instead of two small teams,” Hill explained. “This has given us more depth on varsity. It also provides us with more opportunities to practice game situations within practices – base running, situations, live pitching and hitting, and scrimmaging.” Senior captain Kaylee Duckett believes having one team has made them more competitive. “It’s a lot louder in the dugout now and that throws a lot of pitchers off,” Duckett said. Junior Jeanelle Johnson believes that having just one team has brought them all closer together. “We started to gel more as a team and get photo from Emory Short Lining up for the National Anthem, the varsity softball team prepares to win their game. comfortable with the younger girls at an earlier stage,” Johnson said. Coaches also offered preseason workouts that many of the girls took advantage of. Players completed three months of strength and conditioning through Divergent Performance at Old Town Athletic. Workouts were twice a week and included speed/agility one day and strength/lifting the second day. “This is the first year we’ve incorporated lifting into our conditioning plan, and I was very impressed with the results,” Hill said. “The girls got stronger.” Johnson said the conditioning helped her a lot. “It helped with my speed and getting to the little bloopers between the infield and the outfield,” Johnson added. Hill added that her players are not afraid of hard work. “We have a solid group of girls that are constantly working to improve their game,” Hill said. “This season Allyssa Space has worked really hard to learn her new position at first base, Abby Boldt has been a force to be reckoned with on the base path, and Emory Shorts and Ashley Hume are making great strides as freshmen in our starting lineup.” The 19 player roster consists of three seniors, four juniors, seven sophomores, and five freshmen. Junior Olivia Conte is one of the older players on the team. “We have a really young team and I think we are going to make it pretty far,” Conte said. “We all put in a lot of hard work and effort and we are excited to see what happens towards the end of the season.” “This season is different because we came out strong in the beginning and got wind compared to the last couple of seasons when it took us awhile to get comfortable and complete,” Duckett said. Johnson said her team’s determination is what sets them apart from their competition. “I think we are more driven this year and we are hungry to prove that we can compete with all of the other teams in our district.” Faculty Senior Game Expected to be a Buzzer Beater were made. Faculty plans a full court press on the senior team by Carly Herbert Editor-in-Chief with bragging The faculty walked away after rights winning this year’s senior/ faculty basketball game 6866. The game took place during fourth block on April 26. Tickets were $5 and were sold at the door. Junior class sponsors Tammy McGilvery and Karen Frye organized the event. McGilvery looks forward to the event every year. “The energy of the students in the gym, cheering on the players, is exciting,” McGilvery said. The game has been a tradition since the school opened back in 2008. Phil Roper, boys varsity soccer coach, plays in the game every year. Roper said he enjoys interacting with the other team and making it fun for those who come out to watch. “I also really like the friendly smack-talk,” Roper said. Ty Thorpe, varsity baseball coach, knew this year’s senior team would be tough to beat. “They have a lot of talent and they shoot the ball well,” Thorpe said. However, Thorpe predicted the faculty would win by four points. Paul Frye, athletic director, knew the seniors had no shot at winning. “I knew it was going to be a landslide in our favor,” Frye said. Senior basketball player Drew Nowland disagreed. He believed the faculty team had no idea what they were up against. The senior team stepped onto the court in matching black crop tops with their nicknames on the Cougar Commits Gabe Chumley Salisbury College Commit Class of 2019 “I chose Salisbury Univerity because I like the campus and the football coaches were cool. I’m looking forward to the freedom of college in general. I’m probably going to miss playing on Friday nights the most.” back, ready to win. Senior coaches Max Stevenson and Ricky Flores were sure their team was going to win. They worked hard on the lineup. “The best part of coaching was making the match-ups,” Stevenson said. Going head-to-head against some of their favorite teachers is what drew some players into the game. “My biggest competetion on the faculty team was Ms. Olinger,” senior John Hamilton said. “She’s deadly on the court.” Seniors Richard Meseg, Noah Feno and Wanye Solomon cheered on the senior team. “It was a tough crowd,” Meseg said. “We had to work hard to get them hyped.” Although the teachers won, there was some controversy over some of the calls that by Charlie Niber Head Sports Editor “I fully believe that the game was rigged and that points were given unfairly to the faculty team,” Stevenson said. Senior Alyssa Damato also felt something fishy was going on when it came to the scoreboard. “I don’t know if it was a fair game because they kept adding points to the scoreboard when they weren’t even scoring,” Damato said. The event was a fundraiser for the junior class. Even with other field trips taking place that day, the basketball game brought in close to $3,000. “We were really pleased with the amount we raised,” Frye said. All proceeds will go towards Prom 2020. Jack Riley Baseball senior When and why did you start baseball? Zach Ewald Christopher Newport Commit Class of 2019 “They have a great baseball program and a beautiful campus and because it is overall a great school. I am looking forward to meeting new people playing baseball at the next level. I will probably miss the bus rides and playing with my teammates.” Payton Fiel Christopher Newport Commit Class of 2019 “I fell in love with the school. I really wanted to play soccer and CNU’s women’s program is unbeliveable! It’s the perfect school for me. I am looking forward to a new chapter and will miss my closest friends and all the traditions we have as a team the most.” “I started playing when I was 8. I was fat back then.” What is your favorite part about baseball? “My favorite part about baseball is probably the experience of being out on the field under the lights; it’s a feeling that is so unique and fun to share with my teammates.” What is your most memorable baseball moment? “My most memorable moment is hitting my first homerun when I was in little league and being swarmed by my teammates.” Sports 15 April 2019 Female Athlete of the Month by Cali May Staff Reporter Alyssa Space Softball junior When did you start playing softball? “I started playing softball when I was 7/8 because of my brother who played baseball. I always went to his games and he inspired me to start playing softball.” What is your favorite part about softball? “My favorite things about softball are the bonds that have been made with my teammates and how we bring each other up.” What is your most memorable softball moment? “My most memorable moment would be when I hit my first home run.” Male Athlete of the Month by Cali May Staff Reporter

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