by Katie Rigney/Staff Writer
Girls in photo: Abby Capen, Alyssa Greenwalt, Alyssa Dodds, freshmen softball players.
The girls softball team at GC is a very hard-working team. “My coach pushes us to always be better and to not be satisfied with not being the best we can be,” said Charlotte Riehle, grade 9. The girls practice almost every chance they get so they can play their best at games. “We practice pretty much every day when we don’t have a game,“ said Alyssa Dodds, grade 9. With wanting to be your best self at playing the girls have had to focus on certain things and try to excel at. They’ve pushed through and fought to do so, with simple things like supporting each other is important.
No matter if it’s a home or away game the girls try to keep it positive, while most like home games better they still play their best no matter what. Getting prepared for games is different for everyone; answers included listening to upbeat music, hyping each other up, and staying calm and relaxed. Player Abby Capen, grade 9, said this, “I don’t typically ever get worked up over playing. I always act like my normal self and have fun.”
A lot of these girls have been playing for most of their lives and it‘s something that they soak in and enjoy rather than worry and get scared. The girls are aiming to be on varsity next year and focusing on things they struggle more at so they can accomplish that goal. “I see myself playing next season and probably the rest of the school year because I enjoy softball,“ said Dodds. Most girls are committed and plan to play softball next year and most likely the rest of their high school years. Dodds also went on to say this, “I want to go to college doing softball too if I get the chance.“
Communication is important considering there are girls on the team that haven’t played before. The girls find that communication is hard but group chats and talking in the dugout is helpful. “Since there are girls that haven’t played before it’s hard to communicate with them since there are people on the team that have been playing for 10+ years,“ said Capen.
Dodds and Capen both said that they can’t really remember the reason they wanted to play softball; they just started between the ages 4-5 and stuck with it. “My little sister and a lot of my friends that are in 8th grade look up to me and ask me about softball so it makes me want to keep doing softball,” said Dodds. Most of these girls play for themselves because they enjoy it, but they are still a role model for many. While sticking through this year tough and going against their biggest rivals like New Pal and Connersville they’ve come out with a positive attitude and given their best.