A combination of inconvenient weather and a series of unfortunate injuries has given New Trier’s softball team a rough start to their season.
Most recently, the team lost its away game to Maine South on Apr. 14. “We made mistakes and those mistakes cost us,” said John Cadwell, head coach of the softball team. “The pitching was there, but it was a high energy game and the girls worked well together.”
The absence of valuable players coupled with long stretches in between games due to weather related cancellations has prevented the softball team from developing the momentum and relationships between the players that are so important to the creation of a successful team.
“Injuries and bad weather are things that happen to all teams, so we’re not using that as an excuse” said Cadwell, “but it has definitely had an impact on our season.”
While it is true that injuries and bad weather are unavoidable in a sport like softball, this season has seen an unusually large number of injured players and cancelled games.
Junior outfielder Grace Murphy tore her ACL at the beginning of the season and three other outfielders are only starting to recover from arm and shoulder injuries suffered at the beginning of the season. Needless to say, having four players on the bench for a team of fifteen is less than ideal.
In addition to the temporary loss of valuable players, poor weather conditions have prevented the team from gaining momentum.
Four varsity games have been cancelled entirely and two have been rescheduled so far. This has resulted in the varsity team playing their first home game of this year halfway through the regular season.
“When games get cancelled it’s always upsetting because we all want to play,” said junior first baseman Cindy Secaras. “We go one week with a ton of games and the next week they could all be rained out. So it kind of feels like we’ve started the season three different times this year.”
With these frustrating setbacks, it’s vital that the captains step up and keep their team focused.
“The captains have been doing a good job keeping the team dynamic positive,” added Cadwell. “It’s been difficult because of the all the cancellations to really gel as a team, but the captains have been doing a good job at keeping the girls focused.”
With the exception of Murphy, who will be out for the season, the other injured players are beginning to recover and hopefully will be able to rejuvenate this team.
The Trevians loss against Maine South broke a 64-game conference winning streak, but they already started a new one with a 5-2 win over Evanston.
Currently injured junior outfielder Noelle Walker, who had tendinitis in her arm, has tentatively started playing again.
“People are starting to get better,” said Walker. “And we just got to work with what we’ve got.”
The setbacks that the softball team has experienced this season have not been all bad.
“The game cancellations affected the team chemistry because when the games are cancelled, that means we practice which gives us more of an opportunity to get to know each other as players,” added Secaras. “Injuries also bring us closer because we have to help each other if one of us is hurt.”
Walker agreed with her teammate.
“The weather we have had has sucked, but I don’t think it has affected us that much, and we’ve all gotten closer.”
For now, all the team can do is hope for a speedy recovery for the injured players and for sunny skies as the team heads into the second half of their season.