A reflection of the softball season by Kaila Mank ’21
If you ever lose hope in something it will never happen. Hope is when you have a desire for something to happen. People who have a lot of hope, achieve more in life because if you hope for something you have more desire to make it happen. Although even if you have hope for something, that doesn’t mean it will always come true. There are some things we can control, and after you realize that you leave more room for other things you can hope for. Have you ever hoped for something so much and you know other people are hoping for the same thing, but it doesn’t happen? This was my softball season. My whole team worked really hard, and we all lifted our spirits and hoped to win game after game, but it didn’t happen for us.
Game Day:
Mercy rule 0-21; we knew if we wanted to have a successful season we were going to have to work harder. We had two weeks to have long hard practice days to prove that we wanted to win more than any of those other teams.
Game Day:
On the way down you could feel the energy in the bus although it was as quiet as owls awaiting their prey. As soon as we entered the bus you felt every single heart drop deeper and deeper into the back of the chairs as we drove away. Mercy rule again 1-21.
Practice:
Hope is high. Energy is restored. We had two days. Sprint, catch, pitch, hit. Repeat. Two long days and we were ready.
Game Day:
A week later after two other games had been lost, we had high spirits and pushed through. We knew this was it, we were going to win on our turf and this one was for us. Kents Hill arrived, energy lifted. Ringing that victory bell our team had gotten closer than ever before.10-5, we did it, it was at that point nothing could bring us down. We knew we had it in us, we just had to push for it.
Practice:
After a season of disappointment but close games, it was time for the semi-final game. Sitting together as a team a day before the game, we knew what we had to do right, and how hard we had to work if we really wanted it. It was at the moment that I had seen hope in everyone, even the coaches because we knew we could do it.
Game Day:
It was an amazing start to a game that we had so much hope toward winning, we were winning until the third inning when we had too much faith in ourselves and we let our guard down. When it came around to the fifth inning we were losing but had a chance to come back, and could make it. They ended the game in the middle of the fifth for another mercy rule 13-25. The second the umps called the game you could feel how heavy the air got on your shoulders as if you were being pulled to the ground.
That bus ride home from Gould was silent. All you could hear were the bubby roadways rubbing the tires underneath the bus. There was disappointment all around. Although despite the long and sorrowful ride home, once we were back on campus we had to let all of the disappointment go. “Good game” was being passed around. Even with no championship, I have never been part of a more supportive team filled with so much hope during bad games and even practices that can bounce back from the season we had to focus on not what’s behind us but what’s ahead.
