Softball looks to the future after losing five of six games

Adie DinolfoStaff WriterAfter losing five out of six games, including the home opener against South Torrance on March 11, and El Segundo on March 16, girls' softball is motivated to improve quickly.Though these losses are discouraging in comparison to last season's success, the girls are optimistic about their upcoming games and training methods. After winning CIF last year, the team parted with 7 seniors and the entire starting lineup. Adjusting to this drastic change has been a challenge for the girls. They are still learning how to work as a team and play comfortably with one another. Head coach Marybell Moreno believes that this nerve-racking process took a toll on the girls' performance in the past three games."We lost 7 starting seniors from last season so it's like a brand new team," Moreno said. "They were a bit nervous to start off and of course we played south Torrance which has a good and solid team. Once we have a few more games under our belt we will be a team to be reckoned with."The rest of the team appreciates the truth in this statement, and plan to work harder to address it.“We have a lot of young talent,” said co-captain Meghan Bradley in regards to the team’s performance the past six games. “This is the first time most of us have played together so we are still trying to gather ourselves as a unit but I'm confident our hard work will begin to pay off.”Alongside Bradley and her positive attitude stands her other co-captain, senior Kelsey Hom. Both captains can agree upon one common fact: practice makes perfect. Like Bradley, Hom predicts success for the team as long as they commit time and effort to their training. Their pre-season work should pay off in the end.“We really need to work on our offense so we can have a more consistent lineup,” Hom said, “And we’ll need practice, practice, practice.”In the meantime, the girls train for their upcoming games Thursday, March 24th against Downey and Monday, March 28th against Peninsula. The following week will be extremely busy as they prepare for away games on Monday and Thursday. The girls note that there is always room for improvement and continue to follow instructions made by Coach Moreno."A girl who works hard to better her game during practice usually shows it on the field."