The Cannon Falls Girls’ Softball Team has had a successful start to the season with a record of 12-3. With some exciting wins and a good team environment, the team has high hopes for the postseason to come. Senior Addison Miller and freshman Mya Menge make clear that the team is headed in a positive direction.
Mya Menge is one of the freshmen on the team this season. After an amazing 8th-grade season on varsity this past year, Menge was named the Hiawatha Valley Conference Breakthrough Player of the Year. Menge is a huge asset to the team this year and explained that this season, their team environment is extremely positive, everyone lifts each other, and they cheer one another on. Having a good team environment is very important when it comes to sports. Making sure that everyone feels comfortable and supported is crucial to having a good team. Along with having good team chemistry, everyone also puts in the work at practice so they can improve and play well during games. Menge explains what a daily practice looks like. “A daily practice is a lot of reps. We normally do our stretching, throw, and then do some infield and outfield work. After that, we either go hit, or I warm up my pitchers.” Not just putting in the work at practices, but making sure everyone is doing their part during games so they can continue winning. Every team has their strengths and weaknesses, Menge explained this year’s strengths and weaknesses, saying “I think our greatest strengths right now are either our pitchers or our bats. Our pitchers have been doing really well this season, Ally has racked up a lot of strikeouts for our team, and has given up hardly any earned runs, and that is huge for our team. I would say we have great bats, too. Once we all start hitting the ball, we hit it well. We have a great hitting team, so there isn’t one person in the lineup who can’t hit the ball hard. I think our biggest weakness right now is just communication. We have had several errors due to miscommunication, we just need to talk it over and call the ball.”
Senior Addison Miller has been playing left field so far this year and has been playing softball for 12 years. When asked what the most exciting win of the season so far was, she explained that the Bomber’s game against Kasson-Mantorville was the most exciting win. The team was down but got their bats on the ball to make a comeback that was huge for their HVL conference record. With having a record of 12-3 so far this season there have been many exciting wins but also some tough losses the team has had to bounce back from. In order to minimize errors so they can continue into the postseason Miller explained “I think that before the postseason we are really going to perfect our defense and routine plays as well as being more confident at the plate.” With tough practices that the team is continuing to improve and reach the goals they have set, Miller noted that the team’s goals for the remainder of the season is to continue to improve so they can reach their biggest goal which is to make it to the state tournament. The team has high hopes given how the first half of the season played out.
It is clear that the team is having a successful season and is headed into the right direction for a successful postseason. Having a good, positive team environment is very important in team sports in order for the team to be successful. In the hopes of an extended postseason with a trip to state, the Bomber Softball team continues to work hard in practice. With the drive and motivation the team has, it is bound to show in the near future, as the team faces some big competition during the section playoffs.
