The off-season is the time to work on your skills and to build your weaknesses into strengths. The softball team has multiple strategies to prepare for the upcoming season.

Varsity coach Robert Hehe said, “they know their weaknesses, they know what they should and shouldn’t be working on. [They are a] very talented group. If they just play at the level that they played at last year, then it’s ours to take this year.”

Unfortunately six players from the former team have graduated and cannot return this year, so part of preparing for the season includes working hard to prove a spot on varsity. Hehe is in the process of evaluating the lady pumas to scope out talent to fill in the remaining spots. The softball locker is a fantastic way to work on that talent.

Senior and star batter from last year Piper Lujan is apart of the locker.

She announced, “we do a lot of core work. Core work helps a lot with our hitting, helps [with] our throwing. We also do arms and legs every day, but our main is core, because without your core you can’t hit home runs [and] you can’t hit line drives.”

Being a part of the softball locker, the girls are able to work on building up their strength for the season. It gives them a chance to show their skills and prove to the coach that they are willing to work hard, willing to push themselves, willing to take time to improve. But building strength is not the only subject they should be improving. Enhancing their relationships with each other is a huge part of succeeding.

Lujan said “I’ve learned to become more of a teammate and more of a leader… Once I got into Perry I realized that it’s a big team sport and that you rely on everyone, and that it’s a big family, and we’re all sisters, and you have to stick by each other and just have fun.”

Building a good relationship with teammates is a vital part of becoming a successful team and the softball team has accomplished this. Without having good communication and compatibility with each other, it is hard to work together – a team.

Outside of school, most of the girls are on club softball teams which also prepare them for the season. Junior and lead pitcher Saige Stutz is apart of a team outside of school.

“I go to my own pitching lessons, I also go practice with my club softball team which is more intense than [the] school team,” Stutz goes onto say, “we have practices twice a week and then we play tournaments almost every weekend.”

Working hard with club softball and pitching lessons, Stutz is on her way to taking a spot on varsity for the third year in a row.

Both building relationships and practicing in the softball locker and on club teams, the softball team is on its way to succeeding in the upcoming season.