Athletes at OHS who play softball take their sport very seriously, and a big part of that is the teammates getting along well. Coach Sudduth said, “They seem to get along well for the most part, the older kids help the younger ones with batting and pitching, they seem to all get along well.” Having friends on the team can benefit the players by getting along better and always having somebody to practice with. The coaches encourage athletes to talk to others and be friends with other kids on their team.

Teammates getting along helps them better succeed as a team and at least try to push each other more. When it comes to bases and what position an athlete plays, it’s important to get along with your teammates because you want to work together to win a game. Lilly Donahue plays middle infield and center field; her teammates have to communicate with her when the ball is going her way or for her to look and catch the ball. Some kids wanted to play different positions, but they got something else, and some tried out for a position and got it. Maya Mira said, “I play first base, and I tried out for first base.”

Every position in softball is important because they all have different things they have to do. First base is defending, second base requires you to think quickly and have good reflexes with strong communication to manage the right side of the field; those are just little things that 1st and 2nd base do, but every other position is different and has different responsibilities.

Outside of school, coaches want players to practice and still try to get a little bit of practice in for when they come back to school and have to play a game. Maya Mira said, “I practice outside of school when I have free time, usually with my teammates.” And at practices, the players try to get a lot of time in, because when they have games against teams, you never know if they are going to put a lot of effort into winning, so you always want to get as much practice in as possible before any game.

Coach Sudduth said, “Practice is usually pretty intense because we try to get them ready for districts and the upcoming teams they are going to be playing against.” The drills and physical conditioning help players with better running and stronger batting or pitching. Practice helps players get stronger and ready for games. Stretching also helps, and that correlates to every sport, not just softball. Stretching helps so that they don’t get injured or cramp up because that can affect your whole career if you don’t stretch or warm up, especially if you want to take the sport seriously and want to move forward with your sport and go pro someday.

Some softball players just started playing this year, while others have played for years, even since they were little kids. Lilly Donahue has played softball for 11 years!! Mackenzie Fitterer said, “I have been playing softball since I was six and consider it one of the hardest sports for sure, because yes, there is physicality to it, but it is a big mental sport.”

Having older siblings can definitely benefit your sports, too. Some siblings can definitely influence us to play a sport or get into different types of activities that benefit us. If you have a sibling who plays the same sport as you, they can help you practice and help you be a better player and get better at certain techniques. Lilly talked about how her brothers influenced her to play, and she stuck with softball, and now she loves it.

If you’d like to come support our softball athletes, the next games are 4/24, 4/28, 5/1, 5/4, and 5/7.