INA, Ill. (February 12, 2024)—The Warriors Softball team are stronger than ever and ready to hit the ground running this season.
The team this year’s softball team consists of 17 student-athletes, made up of 9 freshmen and 8 sophomores.
The freshmen this year are Emily Mevlin (Benton), Riley Atkins (DuQuoin), Haley Friederick (Mascoutah), Jackie Aymann (Mascoutah), Patrice Laur (Sesser), Ella Baquette (Woodlawn), Avi Tomas (Carterville), Gabby Overturf (Johnston City), and Addy Trout (Johnston City).
The sophomores this year are Lainey Morris (Zeigler), Isabell Frick (Woodlawn), Tara Michels (Albion), Ashlyn Childers (Mt. Vernon), Maisie Sitton (Theives), Emily Hayes (Mt. Vernon), Caitlen England (Woodlawn), and Hallie Roper (Norris City).
“I would really like to see us be competitive and play well within our conference,” said RLC’s Assistant Softball Coach Laura Johnston.
What has really impressed her about the freshmen this year is their athleticism. This year they recruited Addy Trout and Gabby Overturf, a strong pitcher/catcher duo from Johnston City who placed 4th in State.
Some things about the returning sophomores that have really impressed her have been their leadership skills and their desire to win. “I think their confidence has improved greatly. We’ve improved a lot throughout the year, I do their strength and conditioning, and this has to be one of the fittest teams we’ve had yet.”
A few of the sophomores Johnston is looking towards in terms of leadership this year are Caitlen England, Tara Michels, and Lainey Morris.
“I feel like we’ve grown as people, because we’re now the leaders on the team, whereas last year we had sophomores to show us the ropes, now we have to set a good example for the freshmen,” said Morris. “I feel like we have a good team chemistry, everyone gets along really well. We all have a good work ethic.
England is a strong pitcher who also leads the team by example both on and off the field. Michels and Morris make a great pair on the field with Morris on shortstop and Michels on either 2nd or 3rd base.
Johnston would love to see their hitting percentage and on base percentage improve this season, but overall, she thinks that they have gotten stronger overall and she is proud to be the assistant coach for the softball team.
If she could describe her hopes for this season in three words they would be, “Confidence, hitting, and success.”