Softball season comes to end after 2nd round

One team one goal. Any Perry student may recognize the saying that now adorns each softball player’s shirts and proudly flows from their mouths. A simple goal yet a powerful one. Softball season came to an official end Fri. May 27 against Red Mountain where the team suffered a loss of 1-0. Despite the sour ending, the team completed their season with a 7-2 record and a state ranking of No. 9.

In spite of the end of the regular season, the team held their heads high as they confidently walked into state playoffs which began for the Pumas Sat. May 30. Defeating No. 24 Mountain View 4-2 the Pumas advance to their second matchup against No. 8 ranked Red Mountain.

“The excitement [of being in playoffs] is easy. They know how important each game is,” coach Hehe shares.

With a well deserved victory of 4-1 the Pumas begin the second round of state playoffs where they met their match on No.1 Desert Vista. The team suffered a tough season ending loss of 11-5.

Despite the loss of this year’s state playoffs the team still ends on a good note and high hopes for next season.

“There’s a lot of role players who take their roles seriously,” Principal Dan Serrano says.

This year the Pumas will be sending off multiple 3 year letterman and one 4 year letterman.

“Softball has had a huge impact on my life, you learn a lot of life skills through sports,” Johnson shares. While the team prepares the say goodbye to this year’s seniors they are not at all worried about filling the gap for next season.

“Our season has been interesting, lots of ups and downs,” Senior Hannah Johnson says. Johnson, who suffered a foot injury earlier in the season, has led team as team captain alongside sophomores Sydnee Smith and Piper Lujan. While the team strongly consists of younger players, the end of the year calls for the goodbye of prominent seniors.

“It’s going to be tough. We always have a hard time with the seniors that are leaving. [But] we have kids who are right behind them ready to fill those spots” head coach Rob Hehe says. Softball looks forward to next year where he will once again pursue to leave a mark on Perry softball.