This is now the second year in a row that there has been a middle school softball team. This year there are very high hopes for the team. Last year’s record for the team was 3-9. 

“I’m optimistic about the upcoming season. We have some new teams on our schedule, which should keep things interesting, but if we can work together as a team we should do well,” Wade Rywolt, middle school coach, stated.

“ I think that we will have a good season if the team puts in all their effort,” eighth-grade Madison Dalesandro stated. 

This year the team has five eighth graders and eleven seventh graders, with a total of sixteen players. The team started practicing in October on Saturdays at the high school gym. They have been working a lot on fielding mechanics and this year the team has a lot stronger batters and more pitchers.

 “We should be very strong on the mound this year with three experienced pitchers. The area I would like to work on improving would be batting. We did well in the batting cage over the winter but we’ve not had much opportunity to see if that will translate to live situations,” Wade Rywolt, middle school softball coach stated.

“I think we will do better with batting this year because we have girls that have played before,” eighth grader Jordyn Moerhle said. 

Most of the team has been playing for at least one year so they have more experience with the game. Last the team only had about two catchers and two pitchers. This year they have three catchers and three pitchers.

 “I think it will be good to have more pitchers and catchers because the catchers will have more experience but the pitchers won’t have as much pitching time,”  Moerhle said.