Tamalpais trounced the girls’ softball squad in its season opener, 19-0, on March 4.
Despite the loss, Coach Bob McLaughlin believed the team had some good moments. “The team did well. We hung together and we made some good plays.We put the ball in play and we hit pretty well. All in all, they did okay and they never gave up,”
According to McLaughlin, the loss was partially because of the hitting. “There weren’t many hits. When we did hit, it would go right at them,” he said.
McLaughlin also noted that pitcher Charlotte McNeil has had limited time practicing with the squad. “Charlotte struggled a little bit, but it was her first time she pitched since last year and she hasn’t been able to work with the team because she is on the basketball team,” he said.
“It was our first game so it was good, because we have a lot of new girls on the team, but we definitely could have done better if we focused more,” senior Anna Helser said.
Even with the slow start, McLaughlin hopes they can defend their section title. “My goals are to make NCS. I think we can.The girls seem up for it. They are energetic and they work hard. We need to improve in some areas but I think we can and we are just going to keep woking harder and harder to get better,” he said.
One of the challenge this year is the absence of a junior varsity team. “We have a big disparity in experience on the team. We have 5 girls who have never played softball before so it is hard to integrate those girls into a varsity situation. It just make practices a little bit more challenging as a coach trying to set things up so that everybody gets the right reps,” said McLaughlin.
“I think that the new girls who have never played before will learn a lot more and get a lot better. I hope they have a fun time doing it,” said Helser.
Helser wants the team to become closer, be more enthusiastic, and work together. “We can definitely improve on being a team. We could have more team spirit because when you have team spirit, you want to play better,” she said.
“There is room for improvement but I see improvement from them already from the beginning of the year. We just have to keep swinging away and hope that we find some holes,” McLaughlin said.
