Since the beginning of the season, the softball team has been getting better and strengthening their team.
At the start of the season, the team was just getting back into it. Coach Warner took pride in getting the girls to where they needed to be. One step at a time, by keeping the errors down and the bats hot, Coach Warner slowly but surely shaped these players into the ideal team.
“We are always working on our hitting. From a defensive perspective, we are continuing to work on the foundational mechanics of glovework and footwork for the infield. For our outfield, we are working quite a bit on footwork and tracking. We have spent a lot of time working individually with our pitchers and catchers as well,” Warner said.
A big thing for Coach Warner was the mental game and how the players were mentally preparing for the games. It is no surprise that they have been so calm and collected on the mound.
“We are continuously working on the mental game with our team and preaching the championship mentality. Knowing that each player is supported and the rest of the team has her back really helps keep the energy up,” Warner said.
Another big thing for this team is getting better in practice. Coach Warner is doing a lot of work communicating with each other on the field, softball IQ, and even more repetition work to build muscle memory.
“Offensively, we have gotten much better at our small ball game. We have spent a significant amount of time breaking down basic mechanical movements and creating muscle memory for them. This is so that during games, the movements become instinctive and take the thought out of it,” Warner said.
These skills translate from practice to games. Coach Warner is already looking forward to the sectional to see what progress they have made from the beginning of the season and what they need to work more on in practice to stay prepared.
“We keep a close watch on the mistakes we make in games and that is our priority at the following practice. We understand that mistakes will be made but it is our job to figure out why it was made and what adjustments the players need to make to eliminate them from happening again,” Warner said.
The players have been getting work done under Coach Warner. Each one of them doing their part this season and making jumps since the beginning of the season. You can see a lot of versatility in players like Lauren Payton, Jasmine Harvey, Natalie Hilliard, and Brooklyn Baltzell. They can all play multiple positions and step up defensively when needed.
“We have had a solid team effort for our games so it's hard to narrow it down, but [the whole team] has been key with their versatility and ability to play multiple positions when we need them to,” Warner said.
Brooklyn Baltzell has been playing softball for quite some time and is undeniably a leader on the team. Baltzell is constantly putting runs on the board and making stops defensively. She has the versatility to play different positions and the skill to make plays wherever. Baltzell is constantly getting better with every practice.
“To get better this season we are spending a lot of time together, practicing every day, and learning something new every day,” Baltzell said.
It is easily seen that softball is important to her. Baltzell aspires to win and she has set plans to do so.
“Some goals I have for these games would be to play as a team and communicate, Some goals I have in mind would be to not strike out looking and keeping the energy up, Some things we need to grow in to compete would be more communication on the field and trusting your teammates, as a team we are looking forward to having fun and winning,” Baltzell said.
A big part of being a coach and a leader is team chemistry. The softball team spends a lot of time around each other and tries to attain a certain level of relationship. This is important to the team because of the team chemistry on the field and getting on the same page with the new coaching staff.
“This is always tough with a completely new coaching staff coming in because nobody knows what to expect. We have made it a priority to let our players know we are here for them and want to do what we can to help them succeed,” Warner said.
This team has made jumps since the beginning of the season started, and in time they'll make more. All the hard work that the coaches and players put in will show in the games and the stat sheets. Coach Warner is turning these girls into a competitive team going into sectionals.
“Our staff knew going into this season that we had a lot of ground to cover and time to make up so we have set realistic expectations. Our record and the scoreboard don't truly reflect the significant amount of improvement that each player has made so far this season or the number of small wins we have collectively had as a team. As coaches, we love to teach the game and help each player along their journey and we are doing just that every single day,” Warner said.