As the softball class of 2023 walked down the sidewalk decorated with personalized chalk designs for each of them, non-seniors and family members waited for them to make their entrance. 

On Wednesday, softball run-ruled South Lake with a 12-2 win. 

“The weather really wasn’t what we were expecting but we made the best of what was given to us,” senior Ava Thornsbury said.

Originally, senior night was supposed to be April 18 against Timber Creek as a varsity-only event, but since because Honor Grad night fell on the same night, seniors would not be able to go to both. The game was instead moved to Wednesday with both a JV and varsity game. Usually, JV does not have a game on senior night so they can help set up and make everything go quicker for parents. South Lake had already paid for buses so the JV game could not be canceled. And even though weather conditions were not ideal, parents and players made the most of it for seniors — from chalk art to personalized cookies for each senior. 

“I’m so grateful we got to have our ceremony and play,” senior Bennett Duba said. “The most important thing was my speech and to hear everyone else’s.”

All of the seniors had starting positions, getting at least one at bat. When the game started, South Lake came out strong, scoring one run in the top of the first inning off of a couple singles. In the bottom of the first, the girls answered back by scoring one run after senior Addison Orr doubled, bringing in sophomore Ana Roman. 

Senior Reese Twiggs started on the mound pitching a total of five innings with ** strikeouts. 

“She worked the counts really well, used her defense to back her up, and took advantage of them swinging at non-strikes,” Thornsbury said.

In the bottom of the third, the girls really opened the game up. Duba hit a lead off double and Roman followed suit right after with a double, scoring Duba. A triple to the fence by junior Rachel Matthieson scored Roman and soon after the bases were loaded for the team with no outs. After a pitching change from South Lake, the score was already 5-1 when Duba was back up and hit her second double of the inning, scoring two. When things looked like they could not get any better, Roman hit a two-out, three-run home run, making the score 10-1.

“Putting up 10 in the third inning had us all feeling really hyped,” Orr said.

While their offense was electrifying on senior night, the girls did not always show the same in past games.

“We’ve had a couple hard losses that I felt made up for everyone’s lack of hitting,” Duba said. 

Finishing the regular season and moving into postseason, the girls know they need to work on simple things like continuing to hit outside pitches, fine tuning mechanics and getting in as many reps as possible. 

“[We need to remember] how well we do when we come together as a team and back each other up,” Orr said. “Keeping the energy high and bats hot is what we need.”

Varsity’s next game will be April 15 at 6 p.m. at Lyman.