The Lady Mustangs softball team is on a winning streak against teams from the district and from around the area in tournament games. The Lady Mustangs are currently 17-4-1 and will play Wylie Friday night.

“We got to play Coppell and Allen just the other day, who are pretty good teams to play against,” junior Skylar Rheaume said. “They’re very competitive. Most districts have better teams than the ones in ours, so tournaments tend to be a lot more fun than district games.”

Though only halfway through of the season, the team already has its eyes on the playoffs in April. Players have been preparing themselves for the high-stakes environment of playoffs early on so that they will be ready to play more competitive teams when playoffs arrive.

“We always play as hard as we can, but when playoffs come around, we have to play even harder,” junior Jenna DiValerio said. “When we go to playoffs, our minds are in the game and in the moment. All you want is to do your best, win and keep going forward.”

Every Varsity player plays a specific position based on their individual talents. ‘Reading’ the ball, or predicting where it will land when hit, is a massive factor into where a player is placed.

“Up until high school, I was in the infield because coaches would want to put players who could throw up front,” junior Bailey Balderson said. “As I got older and competed against better players, I was moved to the outfield because I could read the ball and also be able to run fast enough the get to it in time.”

Each position has its own challenges.

“Whenever I play first or third base, there’s so much pressure on me,” DiValerio said. “I have to catch the ball and make an out as a corner base player. Most plays come to first base, so whenever the ball heads that way, I have to drop to my knees, do the splits or whatever I have to do to make the catch and not let the batter advance.”

Outfielders are responsible for potential deep-hit balls and home runs.

“My favorite moment is when I’m playing outfielder and the other team hits a ball far into the outfield,” Balderson said. “When you’re running, for a moment you think, ‘Oh, I’m not going to make it!’ But then at the last moment, you reach out and actually make the catch. Ghat feeling is the best.”

Some players started playing softball from an early age. Their passion for the game has not waned.
“I started playing softball at a young age–probably at around 6 years old,” DiValerio said. “I’ve always had a growing passion for softball. It’s been the sport that I’ve stuck with for most of my life. I wanted to play every sport as a child, but as soon as I found softball I fell in love with it, and I wanted to keep pursuing it and keep growing as a player.”

Softball is just as much a mental game as it is physical.
“One of the best moments for me is right when I’m up to bat,” Rheaume said. “In that moment, there’s just you and the pitcher. You have to calculate the speed of the ball, its position, where and how it coming at you, and more. There’s something about being in that moment, being just you and just your bat, and making perfect contact with the ball.  That’s so great.”
Playoff games can be a single match or a best-of-three series, depending on the decision of the coaches.

“We need to step up from a mindset of ‘we’re going to win every game’ to a mindset of ‘we need to pick up our act and focus because we have real competition now’,” Rheaume said.

“Playoffs are where everything matters and where we need to step up our game.”