Spring has sprung, the weather has slowly warmed up and softball has begun.
This year, the team consists mostly of underclassmen with only one senior playing on the team.
At the time of print, all softball games and scrimmages planned were cancelled due to weather and other complications, making the beginning of the season difficult.
In previous years, girls softball has been a “struggling program” according to Head Coach Bill Boggs, who wishes to hopefully help rebuild. Boggs said that in his first year as head coach at Freedom, his priority was “just learning the basic abilities of his young team.” With only one senior member on the team, there are a lot of fresh players that have joined.
Previously, Boggs served as an assistant softball coach at Freedom under Mrs. Brandi Burger and alongside Mrs. Andrea Niedbala.
This year, Boggs expects the team to “not get beat by beating ourselves.”
Junior Alexis Shingleton believes the season will start strong. “It’s definitely going to be a lot better than last season because Bill is such a dedicated coach, and he wants to see us succeed and do better as a team,” Shingleton said.
Junior Jessica Palak thinks that having a new coach has warranted positive reaction by the team so far. Palak also said that they did have a few problems with the old coach, but now she believes that “Bill is going to change the team for the better.”
Boggs’ involvement with the girls during practice consists of him not only running the drills, but participating in the drills with the team as well. This allows athletes to learn by watching his example and letting them see exactly what to do in the drills. His interaction with the team also helps the girls become more encouraged and motivates them, Palak believes.
Another interesting practice tactic that Boggs has put in play is his inclusion of the middle school softball players during high school practices. The goal is to help the middle school team grow and advance so that they will have a better understanding of what they are doing when they move up to the high school team. Shingleton thinks that “it’s good to have a bunch of younger girls [on the team],” with the goal to “move forward and hopefully have a successful team and win a section game this year.”