Springtime means softball season. With that in mind, the Lady Spartans softball team has suited up for competition. Led by seniors Sofia Murtaugh, Alinda Tucker, Audrey Garrett and Madison Erwin, the team has a great outlook on the season. With the rest of the team comprising of 7 sophomores and 6 freshman, this team remains relatively young. Coming into the season, they received a good amount of new players, resulting in the buildup of a new team chemistry through lots of time spent together.

“As with the beginning of every season, we had new girls, but they came along nicely, feeling like a team really quickly,”  Sophia Murtaugh (12) said.

This teamwork has not only been one of the reasons for the team’s success, but also a way for the team to get through bumps along the road throughout the season.

“Softball brings us together, and we are truly friends,” Murtaugh said. “Even in frustrating moments we stick up for each other and pat each other on the back. Without softball, I never would have met all these amazing girls.”

As far as competition goes, the Lady Spartans have dominated their district this season, going 10-2 in all district match ups. On the other hand, against more of the suburban teams such as Collierville, Arlington and Bartlett, the girls face much more challenging opponents.

“We defeat [almost] everyone in districts, but then when we play outside teams, we fall apart,” Andrea Brimhall (10) said.

On top of the hard games, the team also faced a few more obstacles coming into the season such as tough schedules. With much effort, they have overcome the tightly packed games, which do not allow many practices during the week, by treating easy games as learning and growing experiences.

Coming into the season, the team had two goals in mind: strengthening hitting skills and growing as a team. As a result, the team held batting practices every Friday heading into the season. The effect of this has shown on the field as the Lady Spartans stand at 14-8 for the season.

“I hope we can keep the positive energy up in the dugout, and we can maybe go far into the regionals,” Brimhall said.

As the season wears on, the goal to make it far into the postseason stays fresh. Several highlights this season include going on a 3 game win streak as well as a 4 game win streak. In addition, the Lady Spartans racked up blowout wins against Overton (18-3), St. Agnes (13-2), Melrose (19-0), Hamilton (17-0), and Germantown (17-4). With outstanding defeats like these, the girls look to finish out the season strong.