Late nights, long bus rides, unfamiliar fields, strenuous practices, and scrambling to make up for missed days at school– none of these obstacles could hinder the success of our Lady Dawgs softball team this season. “Constantly traveling and having to catch up on schoolwork was hard, but the away season also gave us the opportunity to go out to other towns and play as a team. We bonded a lot through the bus rides too,” said junior Willow Chitty. Team members commented on the importance of coming together and maintaining a strong team on and off the field. “We had a lot of bonding activities outside of practice like team dinners and making bows for our tournaments. These activities really helped us to grow as a team,” Chitty said.

“All year we were considered ‘the underdogs.’ We weren’t expected to do well because we lost so many seniors last year, so overcoming that was challenging,” said senior Jaime Titus.  Coach Rick Titus said, “One of the main challenges of the season was a new staff introducing a new philosophy and systems to a team with two returning starters.  Chitty said that putting losses behind them and moving forward with the season was another challenge. “We beat ourselves up a lot if we lost to a team we knew we should’ve beat. We had to work on that throughout the season and at districts. We finally overcame it, and accomplished what we needed to accomplish,” she said.

Most of the Lady Dawgs would agree that the defining moment of the season was their first-round victory at state over the #2 seeded team. “The last time we won a game at state was in 1999, and we’ve never won a first-round game before. We were the underdogs, but we came out on top,” said Chitty.

Titus is thankful for how much the team and all members grew over the course of the season. “Each of my teammates have had an impact on my personality, and I’ve built relationships with these girls that I know I’ll have for the rest of my life,” she said. Titus said that the keys to a successful season are persistence and knowing how to work together. “This season has taught us how to pick each other up when things get hard and how to play more for other people than for ourselves,” she said.