Last season the wolves graduated eight seniors, and all were key contributors to the team’s success. This season the returners worked in the off season to fill their shoes.
In the summer the softball team held two open fields a week, these served as times where players at all levels, and freshman could get reps in to prepare for the season. They also had team bondings to grow closer off the field as well.
“Team bondings really allow us to create a family feeling and a sister bond going into the season,” senior Skyler Cooley said.
Softball has the shortest season of all the fall sports with almost four games every week.
To start the season off, the wolves had a long weekend playing Lincoln Northwest, Lincoln High, Omaha South, and Fremont. The wolves ended the weekend 4-0 and took first place in the Bryan High School Invitational.
“It gave us good momentum going into the season to allow the younger girls on the team to get a taste of winning,” senior Graisyn Coleman said.
After losing to Gretna and Gretna East the wolves bounced back on August 31st when they took down Aurora and Seward in the Seward Tournament. They ended the tournament losing to the Bennington Badgers; claiming a win against Bennington became their new goal. Reese Pearson and Peyton Johnson both hit home runs and Skyler Cooley had a grand slam.
In the first two weeks of September, the softball team defeated many top Class B opponents including Pius, Waverly, and Norris.
“We kept pushing and working hard in practice and saw how good we could be,” Cooley said.
Leading up to their matchup against Bennington the wolves shutout Burke, Standing Bear, and Duchesne/Roncali and won by double digits runs each time.
On September 30th, the wolves had their long awaited match against Bennington. This game was also Natalie Brand, Coleman, and Cooley’s senior night. The wolves came out victorious, for the first time in program history, taking the win 6-0.
“We really pushed at practice to get better at all parts of the game,” freshman Camryn DeBuse said. “It allowed us to meet our goal of beating Bennington and other teams this season.”
To start postseason the wolves hosted sub-districts, they defeated Standing Bear 12-4 and Elkhorn High 11-3. This amped them up going into the district tournament.
On October 12th the wolves had to play Beatrice twice to qualify for state. Unfortunately they lost 3-12 and 7-11, ending their season.
“This season our team grew well together and we developed a great atmosphere,” Brand said.
The seniors will be missed, but the strong foundation they leave will last a long time.
