Playing for love of game pays off for softball

Living up to any legacy is hard, but living up to a 17-9 record is titanic. Still, that is exactly what Marshall’s varsity softball team plans to do this year, despite a rocky 1-4 start to the season. Coached by Laura Campbell for the past four years, the 2011 softball team is looking forward to a great year.

“We’ve got a good foundation,” said Campbell, who played softball herself in college. “Our batting is pretty good and our teamwork has really improved since the start of the season.” Though not quite a well oiled machine yet, the 2011 team has Campbell confidant that it will have a winning season just as last year’s varsity team did.

“We definitely have a lot of potential, and we’re all working on improving,” team captain and left fielder Elaine Bennett said.

To achieve this, the team meets regularly after school, Monday through Friday. “A typical practice is full of drills. Pitching, fielding, batting and even rehearsing various game scenarios. We cover a lot,” freshman and outfielder Monica Boyer said.

The team is “working to maybe beat last year’s record. [The 2010] varsity team had a really great year, and we want live up to that,” Boyer added.

While the state tournament is still a long way off, thoughts of possible victory linger amongst the team, though to get there the team must improve their record. “We’ll start by hitting the ball,” Campbell said with a laugh.

However, results have been shaky. One of the team’s recent games against Thomas Jefferson High School ended in a 2-6 loss.

“We were lacking on some fundamentals and I think our head wasn’t 100 percent in the game that day,” Bennett said. “Bad communication was also a problem.”

But aside from the calculating and intense world of record-keeping and tournaments, most players would say that they are on varsity for sheer love of the sport. Boyer has been playing since her days in the sandbox.

“[Softball] is really fun,” Boyer said. “I love learning new skills, and I’ve made some really great friends over the years. Starting a new season is always exciting and my teammates this year are pretty helpful. I’m going to stick with it for a while.”

Bennett has been playing since kindergarten and has been on the Marshall team for four years and simply “fell in love” with softball.

“We’ve had a star team these past two years,” Bennet said. “It’s been [an] amazing experience.”