The softball team has had a promising season with an 8-4 record and foresees its best season ever. This year’s team has players setting sights high for this season.
“I feel that we have the best team I have played on so far in my four years at Ouachita,” senior Randi Wilson said.
Sophomore Sara Hanson agrees.
“I have some pretty high expectations for our team, and I think it’s going to be a pretty good season for us,” Hanson said.
Senior Emily Matthews commends the team for the work already done.
“We have a super great group of girls representing the university out here,” Matthews said.
Wilson recognizes the ability of the team to work together.
“Our team chemistry is amazing,” she said. “We will do whatever it takes to win, and there is no reason why we can’t take conference this year.”
Hanson feels the same way about the unity of the team.
“I’m excited for the great group of girls we have,” Hanson said. “We are progressively learning what it means to trust each other and our coaches. We are having a great time getting to know each other better and to play as a team.”
The team focuses on more than just athletic work. “We have worked so hard on the field and in the classroom to be the best we can be,” Wilson said. In fact, one goal of the team this year is to have the highest GPA in Division II.
Matthews is proud of her teammates as more than just softball players.
“We have some amazing athletes,” Matthews said. “But more importantly we have some amazing people on our team and that is something not many teams can say for themselves.”
The team has already shown much promise in games this season.
“We have come back and won in the bottom of the seventh [inning] in a few games,” Wilson said. “Thatshowed that we are fighters.”
Wilson sees the roles on the team being sufficiently filled by each individual.
“I am so proud of our pitchers,” she said. “They are keeping us in games, and I expect a lot out of them. We have several upperclassman who are taking leadership roles and stepping up, and then we also have some freshman who have come in and impressed me so much.”
Sully Anderson Field, where the team plays, was renovated over winter break.
“The students should come check us out and enjoy our newly ‘face-lifted’ field,” Matthews said.
“I expect a lot this year and hope that everyone can come out and catch a few games at our new field,” Wilson said.
