GAME 1:

During the first of two varsity softball games of the night, both senior Reagan Whitworth and senior Sarah Callahan hit triples which scored the only two runs of the game for the Huskies.

Callahan said she felt excited about her second inning triple because it is not something she does on a frequent basis.

“It was pretty exciting, because I don’t normally hit triples,” Callahan said. “It’s always nice to get that big hit and bring a run in.”

Callahan also said hitting the triple impacted her attitude, as well as the morale of the whole team.

“Whenever somebody gets a big hit, it always lifts up the whole team,” Callahan said. “I think it gets everybody more motivated to get hits like that.”

For Whitworth, she said hitting the triple was nice in that it helped pull her out of her slump.

“It was really nice,” Whitworth said. “I’d been in a slump for a little while, so hitting a triple like that felt really good. It was even nicer that there was a runner on base, so it made up for it a little bit.”

After these two scoring plays, the Huskies were not able to come back and win the first game against West. Sophomore and starting pitcher Sadie Varhall said her pitching could have been better, and it allowed some of the Jaguars to get multiple  hits.

“My pitching could’ve been better,” Varhall said. “[The Jaguars] got a couple good hits. They snuck some through third and short.”

Varhall also said that despite the strong start, the Huskies got to a point where they could not save the game.

“We started off really strong, and it was pretty close to the beginning,” Varhall said. “I think sometimes one thing leads to the next, and then we just dig ourselves into a hole.”

The Huskies 12-2 loss to the Jaguars dropped their record to 2-7 before the second game of the double-header was played.

GAME 2:

In the second game of their double-header against Blue Valley West, the Huskies fell to the Jaguars 13-2. Senior Kylie Young got the start in the circle for the Huskies and began with four strong innings.

“I felt like what was going well early was just getting ahead in the count,” Young, who gave up only two runs through the first four innings said. “They were obviously very aggressive hitters, so getting ahead early and often was very crucial.”

Sophomore Abby Bishop led off the top of the fifth inning with the Huskies trailing 2-0. Bishop drove the first pitch she saw over the centerfield fence for a solo home run, pulling the Huskies to a 2-1 deficit. Head coach Kim White said for Bishop, finding her confidence is the key to unlocking her potential.

“Abby has all the talent in the world,” White said. “She just needs to find that confidence, and I hope that home run she hit gives her that confidence because that’s the kind of power that she has. She has the ability to hit like that every at-bat. Her mental game is what she’s got to work on, and she knows that. We’ve talked about it, she can’t get down on herself and she has to play through it.”

The bottom half of the fifth inning proved to be troublesome for BVNW as BVW was able to score eight runs and grab a commanding 10-1 lead. Young said she felt like a great hitting team like the Jaguars was able to have success against her because of their ability to adjust.

“They are very smart and very good hitters and they just really came out to play,” Young said.

With the loss, the Huskies fall to 2-8 on the season, a record that Young and White each said does not indicate the true potential of this Huskies squad.

“I think we have so much potential to really do great things,” Young said. “Executing at the right time is what is going to be key for us and getting those key hits when we need it because our defense is awesome.”

“If you had told me at the beginning of the season that we were going to be 2-8 when we started I would have told you no way,” White said. “There is so much talent on this team. And so much potential and right now we’re just not playing to that potential.”

“We are not a 2-8 team. That’s what our record is, I really don’t believe that our record is indicative of what we can do.”