By Martha Ewing ’26
Every afternoon at 3:15, the girls on the varsity softball team gather on the turf for practice. This group is tight knit and each practice is a chance for them to train and improve as a team. But what happens during these meetings? Before running down to the field, the girls stop at their locker room in the field house to grab their gloves, sunglasses, and their assigned equipment for the week. Coach Croft and Peluchiwski send them for a jog around the field, and they then stretch out as a group. After limbering up, they run to the side of the field to put on their gloves and get into partners. Each pair gets a softball and they stand in two rows in order to practice throwing and catching. They start with wrist flicks, standing closer together. After fifteen throws each, the partners take a few steps backward and practice throwing normally. They gradually put more space in between each other until they are at their maximum throwing distance. After this warm up, the practice can go multiple different ways: the team can break up into groups and go to different stations (stations can include: pitching, soft toss, tee, outfield practice, and pitching machine), they can scrimmage, or the whole team can practice a specific aspect of the game. These practices are powered by music – many of the team members are avid “swifties” so hits such as “All Too Well” and “Lover” are blasted during drills. The girls have a busy game schedule this season, so a few solid weeks of practice in the beginning is essential for success. Rumors are that they might buy matching PitViper sunglasses in order to intimidate the opposition. Come out to support the girls varsity softball team in their very few home games!
