The loud clang of the bat as the batter swings, loud cheers echo through the bleachers and field as she tosses the bat down and runs straight to first base. The wind blows in her ears as the adrenaline rushes through her blood when she passes that first base, going to second then rounding past third. A home run, the crowd goes wild, and she wins the game for the team.
This is something you can look forward to if you sign up for softball, the satisfying feeling of that win and the friends you make along the way. However, as amazing as this sport may seem. Some people have heard little about it and if they have, they don’t understand the difference between softball and baseball.
Students around the school all had very different thoughts on the sport, especially if they had never played it themselves or even heard of it to begin with.
“I look for fun in sports, since it is best if everyone just has a good time,” Denik Lopez said. He says he has heard of the sport as well, but is not entirely sure “what it’s about, or how it’s played” this caused him to be quite hesitant about spreading the word on this sport to some of his friends who are able to join during the softball season.
Three students had different responses about what they imagine when hearing the word Softball. For example, Sophia DeLeon said “I think of the softball in general,” meaning that she thinks of the large yellow ball used during the games, while Brisa Garcia thinks of a quote about winning the softball game. But Lopez didn’t even think about softball at all, he said “I imagine other sports that have to do with a certain type of ball like volleyball, or basketball.”
These differing ideas of the sport show what people will imagine when they hear about this mysterious sport, showing that not everybody knows exactly what it’s about, and most everyone at Cy Springs do not even know what the game is or even what the ball looks like.
Although many people don’t even know the sport itself, there is in fact a famous and professional softball player that went to Cy Springs by the name of Cat Osterman who graduated and went to UT to play softball there winning many accolades. She went on to make the Olympic softball team which won the gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics along with the silver medal at the 2008 and 2020 summer Olympics. She is a collegiate four time All American and a six-time professional All-Star. Osterman played at Springs when softball was a popular program with the standout pitcher leading the team to the playoffs in 2001.
The goal is to get back to that standard as there has been a shortage in players the last few years. The players and coaches would love for more people to consider trying out.
“If I had to give advice to anyone joining, especially someone like me who started off with so little experience, it would be that it is okay to mess up. You may not be as good or as skilled as the person next to you, but if you put in the work and keep your head up as you maintain a positive attitude, you will get there,” Isabella Jordan said.
So, if you are interested in joining the team, or even if you are hesitant about joining the team, go ahead and try just to see if it’s for you. It can be a good way to meet new people, get decent at a new sport, and just have something to look forward to every day. Just go on down to meet Coach Murphy in the athletic area during tryout season in Spring and ask her about the team.
“The thing that inspires me the most is knowing that every play and every inning is bigger than me, and at the end of the day I am doing it for and with my team. I look for a coach and team that wants to improve and make each other better. We need to comfortable with doing the uncomfortable.”
You never know you could just end up finding a new passion like Jordan or become the next star softball player from Cy Springs like Osterman. You will never know if you do not try.
