The San Domenico Athletic Department is proud to introduce the addition of a new varsity spring sports team to their roster: softball! This season marks the first year for the SD Softball Team. Players, coaches, and fans alike are eager to see what the future holds for this exciting new program.
Rani Wright-Ojha, a sophomore who has been playing softball for seven years, shared her excitement.
“The idea of the team has been in the making for a while, and many of the teachers have been very supportive. The girls varsity basketball team has also stepped up, and many have joined the team,” Wright-Ojha said. “This team has done a really good job hyping each other up, especially because a lot of us have never played before.”
Wright- Ojha also expresses her gratitude towards the coaches for always being willing to help players get better, especially Coach Whaley.
“Our coaches are super supportive and are always helping us learn new skills. For example, one day in practice, Coach Whaley and I were talking about drag hitting (a hitting style specific to lefties), that I wanted to learn,” Wright-Ojha said. “He stayed after practice and let me hit a bucket left-handed to help improve my hitting.”
When a new team is formed, having coaches who can guide them through the rules and techniques of the game can make a significant difference. Dave Whaley, one of the coaches, along with Gina Jaeger, said that the number one goal for the softball team is to have fun while also trying to get some wins this season. Whaley also explained some of the challenges for the team for example; one is not having a specific place to practice with only one field to share with two teams.
Since San Domenico is a small school, it isn’t easy to ensure that there will be enough people interested in playing softball to even create a team and that played a big factor in why it took so long to form a softball team.
“We have a core of freshman and sophomore girls who are really interested and into it, and that’s how the team is going to grow,” Whaley said.
Freshman Alexis Weidner said, “The main key strength our softball team has is being willing to try new things.”
Weidner is already experiencing positive changes and progress as a player on the team. It’s clear that there will be more experiences like this for Weidner, with three years left.
“We’ve learned a lot this last month and continue to improve every practice,” Weidner said. “ It’s a supportive team that’s very fun to be a part of.”
The varsity softball team at SD is excited to see what this season has in store for them. The team is especially looking forward to the double header with the baseball team, which was supposed to be on March 22 but got rained out and will be rescheduled in April. It will be the highlight of the season. After the game, San Domenico is hosting a tailgate for the teams, and everyone is looking forward to it. Weidner says that it’s going to be a fantastic event. Therefore, everyone should come out and support the softball team!
