CASSIDY HERMAN
Special to The Leader
After weeks of practice, the Fredonia softball team is finally ready to get their season rolling. On Thursday, March 8, the softball team will be on an 11-hour bus ride to play four games in the Virginia Beach Tournament. From Virginia, they will fly off to Florida to play 12 more games.
“I’m really excited to go down and play, but I don’t really know what to expect. I think as a whole we will play well, but we will also figure out what we need to work on. Virginia Beach and Florida will definitely help us get ready for the regular season,” said freshman outfielder Sydney Merkley.
The team takes this trip to play teams from all over the state that have finished high in their divisions. This trip prepares the team for the upcoming season.
The returners said that this 13-day trip is also an eye-opener for Merkley because Virginia and Florida are “fast-paced” and they play a lot of games down there. They also added that college softball is a much different competition level from high school. This trip really shows that.
The team consists of two seniors, two juniors, two sophomores and 11 freshmen. With all of the new talent that came in this year, the team is hopeful.
“We are a really young team, but we have each position filled with a talented player so I don’t think age will be an issue. The one thing we continuously work on is communication because we haven’t all played together for that long. Even as a freshman, I feel like that aspect has improved tremendously from the first day of practice to now,” said freshman outfielder Megan Maull.
“Since our team is so young, it has definitely been a different dynamic,” said senior first baseman Katelyn Dennis. “It’s been really important for the upperclassmen to teach and encourage the freshmen. On the other hand, the underclassmen have had to adapt quickly and commit to our culture. Overall, with our hard work and all of our time and effort we’ve been putting in to prepare, I think we will be ready to compete when we leave for our trip.”
The returners explained that they all have good feelings about this team. According to them, a lot of new faces with a lot of talent was just what this team needed.
The head coach, Tony Ciccarello, preaches that his teams need to “play with passion,” and that is exactly what these players intend on doing in Virginia, Florida and throughout the whole season.
“I feel like a big part of this trip is traveling together and becoming closer, not only as a team but as friends too. It is really important to be close as friends, so we can bring those friendships on the field,” sophomore pitcher Samantha Seegar said. “This team is already pretty tightly knit, but we always come back closer as friends after.”
Once the team returns home from Virginia Beach and Florida, the season is in full swing. The team will go up against ten teams in their conference, along with three non-conference teams.
“As a team, I think we have come a long way from the first day of practice,” said Eva FitzSimmons, freshman catcher. “We are starting to act and play more as a whole as opposed to for ourselves. From what the upperclassmen have told me, we always come back closer as a team. I am really looking forward to being even closer with my teammates than I am now.”